


The Frozen Heart

by TheDarkOne121



Category: Frozen (2013), Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Adventure, Canon Related, Friendship, Frozen Heart, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Snow, Winter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-15
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-23 18:58:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 50,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14940002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDarkOne121/pseuds/TheDarkOne121
Summary: Long ago, there was a sorceress that had power over the ice and snow. She controlled her kingdom with an iron fist; causing blizzards that would ruin the townfolk's crops and leave people with a devastating winter. Having enough, the people took a stand against this cruel woman.With the help of a traveling sorcerer, the people were able to trap the woman's powers inside a mirror. Using her own powers against her, the woman was frozen and the people hid her body away inside a cave along with the mirror in hopes of nobody using those powers again.Centuries past and the mirror is found. Now it takes warriors from different worlds to stop the rampage of this mirror before it freezes all the worlds!





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So, I actually had this certain idea in my head for a while, like way back in 2017 or like a year after Frozen was released. I only got back into it now because I saw the new Kingdom Hearts trailer with Frozen and that idea came soaring back at me like a bullet.
> 
> If you're all curious about what this idea was it appears later on in the story. If all you folks who are reading this know me very well, you can already tell this idea is far from good for the characters. ;)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A legend that's been lost for centuries has been rediscovered.

Somewhere far from civilization on the rocky lands lived a small village; all the buildings were made out of freshly chopped wood but that was all the materials the people who lived there could afford. The whole village was surrounded by thick trees that cast ominous shadows everywhere, giving the whole place an eerie feeling. Despite the area being surrounded by trees, there was one place that wasn't covered in the trees' shadows; a cave.  
  
Everyone in the village knew of the cave's legend and were told to never go in. They all heed the warning and few have ever dared to go into the cave's system. However, those who do dare, they never get far thanks to the guardians of the cave. After all, humans can just be as terrifying as spiritual entities.  
  
The two guardians stood at their posts, standing tall and regal. The two both wore hand-me-down robes with their only weapons were the swords that were hidden within their sheaths. One of the guardians was a tall man with a fairly muscular structure, his dark blue eyes scanning the horizon with a certain hardness in them. His dark hair was short but it moved slightly in the breeze.  
  
The other guardian was shorter compared to this man and his features were softer. He had long brown hair that goes past his ears and his light green eyes shift around nervously.  
  
"So, how long did they say we should stand here?" the younger guardian asks.  
  
"Until sunrise," the other guardian replies.  
  
...  
  
"Is there anything else we can do besides standing around here?"  
  
"You know we can't leave during our post, Oliver," Oliver sighs at that.  
  
"What if we just leave our post for a moment, Magnus? Look around, see the sights-"  
  
"Oliver, no," Magnus says, causing the younger boy to flinch. "You know why we need to be here."  
  
Oliver shifts slightly. "Well, yeah, but it's been years, Magnus. Don't you think people are bound to stop believing in that old legend at this point?"  
  
"Yeah, but there are people in the world who get curious about these legends," Magnus points out. "They could sneak in to see if the legend is true and steal what we're guarding. Trust me, Oliver, it's better if we stayed here."  
  
"... It would be nice if we get some action around here," Oliver mutters underneath his breath.  
  
Magnus shook his head and was about to say something before he hears something.  
  
A rustle from the bushes. Magnus tenses his body, slightly raising his sword in the direction of where he heard the noise. Oliver notices this and shoots him a questioning glance due to not hearing the noise in the midst of his self-evaluation.  
  
Magnus gestures his head over to the bushes ahead of them. Now getting the message, Oliver raises his sword as well. The two wait anxiously for something to pop out at them.  
  
They waited...  
  
But nothing happened.  
  
An eyebrow raised in confusion, Magnus loses his tense posture. "I could've sworn I hear something-"  
  
The attack didn't come from the front like they expected. It came from above.  
  
Magnus and Oliver both cry out when two heavy things fell from above and landed right on their backs. This forces them to have their own fall to the ground, their swords flying out of their hands and skidding across the dirt a few feet away from them. There was no way they could defend themselves now.  
  
A loud, vigorous laugh bellowed through the air, snapping the two trapped guardians' heads up. While they can't see the things that are on top of them, they can see the person that's in charge of this little ambush.  
  
They were expecting a large, greed pirate with a pipe in his mouth. Not a large, humanoid cat wearing the strangest outfit they have ever seen.  
  
"Told ya they'd fall for the old diversion trick!" the large cat exclaims to someone near his left. The two turn their heads to see someone who's human - thank goodness, Magnus was worry that this was an animal invasion or something. The human, who was a man, had auburn hair with sideburns. For a moment, Magnus could've sworn he saw this man's face before. He just didn't know where.  
  
"While I appreciate your optimism, Pete," so that's what that cat's name is. "I still have yet to see the item that will give me Arendelle like you promised."  
  
Arendelle? Wasn't that the place who had-?  
  
"Don't get your royal pants in a twist yet, Your Highness," Magnus narrows his eyes, that guy was royalty? "The weapon that you seek is right there in this cave. We just got rid of the only obstacles in the way, now we just need to find it in this here cave."  
  
The man looked down at the two trapped guardians with an unimpressed look in his eyes. "This weapon better be worth it, Pete. These guards aren't really meeting my expectations."  
  
"Hey!" Oliver shouts in protest but instantly regrets it when the thing on his back slams his head down with his face meeting the dirt.  
  
Magnus watches helplessly as this Pete character and man walk into the cavern, the place he had dedicated his life to protecting. He could not believe that he let himself get defeated so easily by- Whatever these things that are on his back are! If he could just reach his sword...  
  
"Ow!" Magnus whips his head over to Oliver, his thoughts on his sword instantly leaving his mind when he sees his comrade's pain-stricken face. "I think this thing is digging its claws into my back!"  
  
"Get off him!" the older man yells as he desperately tries to crawl out from underneath his captive's grip.  
  
"Hey, Heartless!" Pete's voice resonates from within the caverns. "Don't snack on 'em! We still need 'em for that magic mirror!'  
  
The 'heartless', as this Pete calls them, stop clawing on Oliver's back, making the younger male sigh in relief. But it still did little to calm Magnus's nerves. If what he's thinking is true, then-  
  
"Aha!" Pete's voice bellows from the caves. "Found it!"  
  
Their eyes widen. Oh no...  
  
The air around them suddenly got chilly. Magnus could see his breath coming out as fog.  
  
They got it.  
  
"I don't see why ya still need convincing," Pete's voice returns, now closer, telling the two guardians that they're currently walking out with the dangerous item in hand. "I mean, you saw what it did back in the chamber."  
  
Their bodies finally appear from the darkness of the caves, in the man's hands was the item that both Magnus and Oliver dread they'd find.  
  
It was a single wall mirror. But nothing about it was normal; the glass that's supposed to reflect the entire world around it was covered in icy frost. The edges of the frost were sharp and jagged, like the teeth of the wolves that surrounded this area. The frame that was allowing the man to hold the mirror didn't look like a frame, either. Skinny, black vines surround the mirror as if they were holding it. Sharp thorns can be seen on the vines.  
  
Magnus and Oliver both gulp when they saw it; the Mirror of Skadi. The most dangerous magical item in Norway.  
  
For years, the people of this village have been guarding this cave in hopes there would never be another incident with that mirror. But now their worst fears have come to life.  
  
The man, who was inspecting the mirror in his hands, looked unimpressed by it, however. "You said there are other people in your World that can also control Ice Magic. How do I know if this mirror has the powers similar to the Snow Queen or to your enemies, Pete?"  
  
This makes Pete let out an eerie chuckle. Despite his boastful, and slightly comedic, voice, Magnus and Oliver feel shivers run down their spines when they hear him laugh like that. It was never good.  
  
"Well, Your Highness, the difference between their magic and your Snow Queen's magic is that they can't freeze hearts like your Queen can. And since this here mirror is supposed to be similar to that Queen's magic, freezing hearts should be a breeze for ya."  
  
"Really?" yet again, the man still looks like he wasn't convinced. Which was good, Magnus thought. If he didn't believe the power that mirror wield then there was a chance he wouldn't use it.  
  
But then, that Pete character said something that made both of the Guardians' hearts drop.  
  
"Why don't you use it on them, Guardians, here," the giant cat looks down at them with a sickening smug smile. "You've seen what that Queen's magic did to her sister, so you should know the effects better than anybody."  
  
Wait... Now Magnus recognized the man. He was a wanted man over at Arendelle; for trying to kill the Queen and leaving the Princess to die.  
  
This was Prince Hans of the Southern Isles.  
  
Hans glances between the mirror and them. Magnus could feel Oliver trembling next to him and it wasn't from the cold. He stuck his arm out in front of him the best he could in his state. He glares up at the Prince's green eyes, almost daring him to use that mirror on Oliver.  
  
Suddenly, a cruel smirk appears on Han's face as he turns the mirror over to them. "With pleasure..."  
  
Small flurries of snow slowly begin to form around the mirror in a circular motion. With each second that past, more snow begins to appear as a mini storm. Then, pale crystals begin to show themselves next to the mirror, outside of the storm. As the storm gets bigger, the crystals glow brighter.  
  
Magnus and Oliver were watching the mirror charge up in horror. Never in all of their years, they would see the weapon they were afraid of and guard with their lives would be used against them.  
  
"Thank you for services, gentlemen," Han's voice tells them before an icy blast shoots from the mirror and hits one of them.


	2. Attack on Arendelle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What started out as a normal day in Arendelle has turned into chaos when an old enemy returns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I know this probably won't be considered canon when the game comes out but gosh, dang it, I'm still going to do this story because I know Nomura won't consider the idea I've based this story on in the game!

"H-Hey! Kevin, this is the third time!"

"Hot potato with the snowman!"

Sven, Arendelle's resident reindeer, was supposed to be on a nice stroll through the village when he heard a familiar voice cry out in annoyance, followed by a few children laughing nearby. Curious, the tall reindeer walks over to the fountain to where he had heard all the yelling only to stop at a shockingly familiar sight.

Olaf, Arendelle’s resident talking-snowman, was having his head thrown around by a bunch kids below the age of twelve. The snowman's little body was stuck playing monkey-in-the-middle as it tries to snatch its head back. Sven knew that those kids would do that until the end of the day and since the two didn’t have time for this, the reindeer decided to intervene on the children’s playtime by catching head through his antlers.

“Hey!”

“No fair!”

“Uh, yes fair!” Olaf’s head retorts as Sven puts it back on his body. “We've talked about this a million times now, Kevin; no hot potato with the snowman. Now, you and your friends go back to your parents and enjoy the festival.”

With a choir of groans, the children dispersed from the area, leaving the two friends alone.

“Man, I hate it when that happens,” the snowman mutters as he climbs onto the reindeer’s back. “I mean, I’m all for fun and games during a Fall Festival, but at least let every part of me enjoy it!”

Sven snorts his agreement before making his way through the town square.

The whole area was decorated in warm colors; from the streamers to the banners that said: Welcome to the Fall Festival, to the clothing the people of Arendelle are wearing. As they travel through the town, the two could see children craving into pumpkins while the adults bob for apples.

“Ah, Fall,” Olaf sighs as he lays down on Sven’s back to relax. “Not as nice as summer but it’s just as beautiful. The time where it tells us that winter is coming soon and creepy crawly things come out. Strange season to do that but I’m not complaining!”

Sven just chuckles to himself. It was always funny to listen to Olaf get lost in his own little world .

“I wonder what Fall festivities Anna and Elsa have planned for us,” the snow continues to ramble. “They said it was going to be a surprise for the whole kingdom. Maybe those ominous dark clouds in the sky are the surprise?”

Sven’s eyes widen. Wait, what?

The reindeer looks up in the direction the snowman was looking at. Sure enough, there were dark clouds floating above Arendelle even though the day was previously a clear one. Suddenly, Sven could feel the temperature dropping significantly.

* * *

“How about this one?”

“Anna, it’s a _Fall_ Festival, not a Winter Festival.”

“Right, right… What about this one?”

“Isn’t that a bit...much?”

“But it was a gift!”

“F-From who?”

“I don’t know, one of those big, foreign countries!”

“J-Just,” Elsa stops herself to take a deep breath after trying to hold in her chuckles. “J-Just pick a different dress that matches the color scheme!”

“Alright, fine,” Anna grumbles playfully before putting away the ridiculous poofy dress she had found in their shared closet. “I’ll go look for a different dress. It’s not like the Fall Festival is going anywhere.”

Elsa just continues to laugh as Anna tries to find the perfect dress for the Fall Festival.

It was nearly two years after the Great Thaw and the sisters found themselves growing closer than ever. For a while, things were a little awkward between them since there were a few things that they needed to discuss - like the isolation and the fact their parents knew about Elsa's powers all along - but they were able to work through that very quickly. The Fall Festival was an example of this, to show off how well things have been going between the two after having months to plan this event together.

All they need to do is make sure nothing goes wrong.

“Okay, I think I finally got-” Anna was interrupted when the door to their room was forced open by a familiar mountain man.

“Anna, did Elsa create these- Ah!” Kristoff barely had time to get a few words in before ducking when a vase suddenly flew in his direction and ended up smashing into a wall when it didn't reach its intended target.

“Kristoff, I’m not even dressed yet! Get out!” Anna shrieks from the closet.

“Sorry! Sorry!” the blonde man quickly shuts the door behind him as he exits the room, feeling a little grateful that it was only a vase and not an icy blast.

After Anna had finished putting on some decent clothes, the two sisters walked out of the room to find the mountain man leaning against the wall nervously. He gulps when he notices the glares in his way.

“Okay, I know what you two are going to say,” he begins before Elsa could open her mouth and rant at him. “But I just need to know if Elsa was the one who caused the storm that’s happening outside right now.”

This got the girls’ attention. “Wait, what?” Elsa questions. “Why would I cause a storm? I haven’t even used my powers since two days ago!”

“Well, if you’re not the one causing it then how do you explain that?!” Kristoff points to a nearby window, which causes the sisters to look over and gasp at what they saw.

Frost nearly covered the entire window. But even then, the two could still see a large number of snowflakes falling at a rapid pace outside, nearly covering the entire surface with snow.

They only rushed outside the castle when they heard the villagers screaming through the heavy winds.

“Ah-! Cold!” Anna shrieks the moment she enters the courtyard and was met with a face full of falling snow. “I-I’m just going to head back inside and get a coat. G-Good luck you two!” with that, the strawberry-blonde woman quickly rushed back into the castle.

“Elsa, do you think you can stop this storm?!” Kristoff shouts over the wind.

“I’ll…” Elsa’s mind was still processing that there was a blizzard happening right now and she wasn’t the one who caused it. “I’ll try!”

She slowly brought her hands up, feeling her power coursing through her. She thought about the love she had for her sister, her citizens, and the newfound love she had for herself to will the blizzard surrounding her to stop.

To her horror, the blizzard did not let up. In fact, the wind just became stronger. Elsa couldn't understand why this was happening. She usually had better control her magic so why wasn't the storm listening to her?

Then came the cold realization when she tried to connect with raging winds to find the source of the problem only to feel nothing. She felt no connection with this storm. This was not her magic.

“I… I can’t do anything!” she cried, loud enough for Kristoff to hear. “My magic has no effect on this!”

“How can your magic not-?!” Kristoff was cut off when two, frail voices echoed through the wind.

“Y-Your Majesty!” Elsa turns in the direction of the voices and nearly screamed when she saw an elderly couple trying to make their way towards her through the wind blowing against them. Frost covered their pale skins and what was once their graying hair had now become a snow-white color.

Stories of what happened to Anna when her heart froze came to mind. While learning of the symptoms was heart-wrenching, it was another to see it right in front of you.

“Mr. and Mrs. Larsen!” Elsa cries as she and Kristoff make their way over to the Fishing family. “W-What… What happened?!”

“I-It was h-horrible, Y-Your Majesty,” Mrs. Larsen manages to stutter out, despite the violent shivers wracking her body. “A-A man came with t-these dark creatures, h-holding a mirror that can shoot magic, j-just like yours!”

“W-When we tried to confront him, h-he just shot his magic at us!” Mr. Larsen continues before wincing when he felt a sharp pain in his heart. “O-Oh, t-that’s so cold!”

“An act of true love!” Kristoff shouts suddenly, startling the three. “An act of true love can thaw a frozen heart! Quick, kiss each other!”

Although they were shocked by the man’s bluntness, the Larsens wrapped their arms around each other and found themselves in a deep kiss.

When they pulled away from each other, nothing had changed. Their hair was still white and frost continued to spread on their skin.

“What…” Kristoff’s jaw dropped.

Then, to Elsa and Kristoff’s horror, ice began to spread throughout the elderly couple’s bodies in a rapid. The two could only watch, knowing that there was nothing they could do to stop it at this point. Two ice statues of the Larsens stood in place, their eyes forever frozen in their shocked position.

Anna had come running up with a winter jacket just in time to see the two freeze over. “Oh my gosh…”

“B-But I don’t understand,” Kristoff stutters, unable to tear his eyes away from the ice statues in front of him. “Grand Pabbie said that an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart. Why didn’t their kiss work?!”

“Maybe it’s because a kiss was not enough in the first place,” a familiar voice spoke up over the harsh winds. The three found themselves grimacing once they realized who that voice belonged to.

“Hans!” Anna shouts in rage as she marches pass the frozen couple. “You cold-hearted jerk! Come out and fight me like a real-! AH!”

Suddenly, a large black _thing_ pops out from the blizzard. Startled by its sudden appearance, Anna fell back and quickly moves away when she sees it coming towards her.

“Last time I was here, I was alone,” Han’s voice continues to echo through the storm. “But now I have an army that has power beyond your comprehension and something that can counteract your sister’s powers. So, what’s it going to be, Elsa? You give me your kingdom and I’ll call off the storm or will I have to freeze you and everyone you love to get what I want.”

Elsa’s eyes dart around, trying to find the man that caused her sister so much misery through the whiteout. But he knew exactly where to hide so there wasn’t a chance for her to strike.

With no other choice left, Elsa decided to fight back by sending her own blizzard at every direction.

Hans growls when he felt a harsh wind being blown directly at his face, forcing him to look away at the spot where those three were. Bringing the mirror out from his coat, he uses it to absorb the blizzard Elsa had conjured up.

When the area was cleared, the three were gone and all that’s left are the two frozen couple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, the elderly couple that froze to death in this chapter are not the same ones from "Olaf's Frozen Adventure". The Olsens shall live on!


	3. The Master's Message

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mickey receives a mission from Master Yen Sid to a place that he hadn't visited for a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How is it that I'm able to update faster now when it took me more than a few months to get the second chapter out? Then again, I was working on other stories so I had a valid excuse. Not to mention school and artworks I'm working on.
> 
> Hopefully, the rest of the chapters will longer since I now realize the reason why they're coming out so fast is that they're short. I guess I'm just very excited to write down the idea that I have, even though it's plenty of chapters away.

Mickey wasn’t exactly sure why Master Yen Sid wanted to see him so suddenly but thought it best to just follow his orders. It had caused some confusion in the others since the order came right in the middle of training but he promised them he would be back soon. Although knowing a certain trio, they would most likely be on the other side of the door listening in.

But he couldn’t bring himself to care about that as he moves to stand in front of his Master’s desk.

“You’ve called, Master Yen Sid?” the mouse questioned after bowing in respect and greeting.

“Mickey,” the old wizard murmurs. “Do you remember the Ice Queen we had faced long ago? Skadi?”

Hearing that name made Mickey gasp and stood straight right away. It had been a long time since he’s heard that name but decided to not dwell on it too much. “B-But Master isn’t she still-?”

“Yes, Mickey,” Yen Sid quickly diminishes the mouse’s worries. “But while her body continues to remain trapped, her powers, I’m afraid, have been freed.”

“W-What?!” Mickey couldn’t believe what he was hearing. After all of these years of selecting the best people to guard one of the most dangerous weapons in the worlds, it was all for naught. “B-But, how did someone even get past the-?”

“Pete,” the answer was simple. Mickey found himself sighing when he heard that. Oh, Pete…

“Even after all these years, Pete still doesn’t understand how dangerous it is,” he muttered.

“One can not dwell on the past, my former student,” Yen Sid spoke up, catching Mickey’s attention. “We can only focus on what’s in front of us at the moment. And right now, we need to do something about that mirror.”

Mickey nods and straightens up. “What would you like me to do, Master?”

“I need you to head to Arendelle,” Mickey blinks in surprise. The same place where the mirror is? “There is an item there that I had placed somewhere close to the mirror so that if a day like this were to happen then we would have something to counteract it.”

“Gosh, what is it?”

“The Lavender Crystal…”

Mickey found himself freezing. “The crystal that takes away all magic…” Master Yen Sid was right; if there’s one thing that can counteract Skadi’s Mirror, then it would be the Lavender Crystal.

“You will find the crystal inside a cavern in a mountain that’s very close to the village where Skadi’s Mirror had lied. But be warned,” Yen Sid’s face grew serious when he spoke his next words. “I have placed a guardian to protect the crystal but it will not recognize you as my student. Be cautious when entering the cave, Mickey.”

“I will, Master Yen Sid,” Mickey nods in understanding. “Shall I go tell the others what’s going on?”

“It would be best to bring them along as well,” Yen Sid adds in. “You know what would happen if you were to get hit in the heart by the mirror, correct?”

Mickey nods grimly.

“Bring them with you, Mickey,” he continues. “One can never be too careful to have others to warn you about an impending danger. And warn them of the possible dangers that come with going to Arendelle.”

“Yes, Master,” with that, Mickey turned towards the door and opened it.

A blur of blue and red came spilling out, causing the mouse to yelp and jump back to avoid getting crushed.

Guess he was right about them crowding the door.

“And that is what happens when you decide to lean against doors that open from inside the room,” Riku says in a deadpan tone as Sora and Donald groan from the fall they just had. Eventually, the silver-haired teen started to chuckle at the sight when he got over his annoyance.

“How much of that did you hear?” Mickey asks once he sees Kairi and Goofy looking over Riku's shoulders to see.

“Gawrsh, well,” Goofy scratches his head. “Ya mentioned someone named Skadi…”

“Something about going to Arendelle?” Kairi questioned.

“Finding some sort of crystal…” Riku pointed out.

“I think you mentioned something about a mirror,” Sora pipes up from his spot on the ground. Underneath him, Donald grumbles at the fact he and Sora were caught eavesdropping and Sora hadn’t moved from squishing him yet.

Seriously, how can a skinny boy like him be so heavy?!

“Get off of me!” Sora flinches when the duck’s loud voice yelled right in his ear. The spiky-haired boy quickly scrambled off him to avoid going deaf.

Grateful that he can finally move again, Donald stood up and turned to Mickey. “So, are we really going on another mission?”

“Well, uh, yep!” Mickey nods. “Master Yen Sid is right, it would be best for all of us to go since we haven’t gone anywhere together in a long time. Besides, it might be time to take a break from training!”

Riku snorts. “And here I was enjoying knocking Sora down a few pegs.”

“Hey!” came the indigent cry from the burnet, though the mirth in his eyes told a different smile.

This draws laughter from everyone, even Yen Sid who was quietly chuckling in the background.

As the teens and Goofy head downstairs to get ready, Donald stays behind and turns back to Mickey once again. “Hey, isn’t Arendelle the place where they have a Snow Queen?”

“Um…” Mickey hesitated to answer. While there used to be a Snow Queen - or Ice Queen, as she would have called herself - the last time he visited Arendelle, he doesn’t know if there’s anymore after what had happened.

He decided to just answer with an uncertain, “Y-Yes…”

A smirk grew on the duck’s face before he lets a chuckle that made Mickey nervous. That was the type of chuckle Donald would use when he's planning a diabolical scheme.Before he could question what Donald was thinking, the duck was already heading down the stairs to catch up with the others.

Mickey suddenly felt scared for Sora, knowing that the teen was the last person Donald was annoyed with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the chapter and please leave a comment!


	4. The Trolls and Oaken's Trading Post

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the heroes of Arendelle look for a way to defeat Hans, the Destiny Island trio realize that they're not exactly dressed for the weather.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is definitely longer! Probably won't be like this for the next chapter, though. Also, I was able to upload this on the day Kingdom Hearts III comes out!

Elsa wasn’t sure how she did it, but she was able to distract Hans long enough for her and her family to escape. As they ran to the stables, they were met with a confused Olaf and Sven, both wondering what was happening. The humans didn’t have time to tell the others what was happening so they told Olaf to just get in the sleigh and had Kristoff hook Sven up. ****  
** **

That was how they found themselves in the Valley of the Trolls, telling Grand Pabbie what had happened to Arendelle and the weapon Hans had. ****  
** **

“This mirror, Grand Pabbie,” Elsa continues as she recounts the events. “It was like my powers; having the control over ice and snow. But, there was something about it… It was like I actually felt the cold from it and I’ve never felt the cold before!” ****  
** **

The old troll hums when he hears this information. “Prince Hans, did he say where he gained this mirror?” ****  
** **

“Well, no,” Anna answers. “We just know that mirror has powers like Elsa and Hans is currently throwing Arendelle into another Eternal Winter unless we give him the kingdom. Which is  _ not  _ going to happen by the way. I rather eat a jar of lutefisk than give him anything he wants! Ooh... If I see his smug face again I’m going to kick him right in his-!” ****  
** **

“Anna!” Elsa and Kristoff cut in before the young woman could say anything inappropriate in front of the rock children, who are currently playing with Olaf and Sven. ****  
** **

“Sorry!” Anna squeaks out when she realizes what she had almost said. ****  
** **

“Anyway,” Kristoff turns back to Grand Pabbie. “Do you know what that mirror is supposed to be?” ****  
** **

The old troll nods, his face looking solemn. “I believe I do know what that mirror is, Kristoff, but it was an ancient power that I believed to be locked away forever by a powerful sorcerer. I would never imagine it being found like this.” ****  
** **

“Where did it come from?” Elsa couldn’t help but ask. ****  
** **

“It came from a woman who, like you, had power over the ice and snow,” this makes Elsa’s eyes widen. “She was once the Queen over these lands but not like you. No, her powers had corrupted her; freezing her heart bit by bit until it had completely warped her original personality. Her powers had caused devastating winters that spread throughout the land; destroying crops and cutting off trade. Plenty of her citizens pleaded for her to stop but no one can get through her frozen heart. ****  
** **

“Then, one day, a sorcerer from another world came with his apprentice. They saw the damage this Ice Queen was doing and brought up a solution to stop her; they used this special mirror that had the power to take away one’s magic and be able to control it. They were successful, but alas, it came with a price. ****  
** **

“Without her magic to keep the ice in her heart at bay, the Queen’s body had frozen to solid ice, forever. Knowing how dangerous the mirror was, the sorcerer and his apprentice stored it and the body of the Ice Queen into a cave that was near a village and tasked its citizens to protect it. The cave was supposed to be heavily guarded but, if what you told me is true, then I fear we’re all in grave danger.” ****  
** **

The citizens of Arendelle were speechless when Grand Pabbie ended his tale, Elsa especially. To think, there was once a woman like her who could control ice and snow and was the ruler of the same land. However, just hearing how the woman’s own powers corrupted her brought a spark of fear in her heart. Was that what could’ve happened to her if she had never learned to control her powers? ****  
** **

She shook her head. Now was not the time to dwell on that. “Is there anything we can use to destroy that mirror? I mean, this sorcerer must’ve had a backup plan in case the mirror was found.” ****  
** **

“Yes, he did,” the old troll agreed. “When he hid the mirror, he also hid a weapon in a cave at the top of a mountain that stood close to the place where the mirror had been hidden. It is said to have the power to get rid of all magic, even magic from those who born with it, forever if said magic were to touch it.” ****  
** **

“Wait, if this sorcerer had the power to get rid of the magic in the first place, why didn’t he do it the first time?” Kristoff questions with a look of annoyance on his face. It just didn’t make sense; wouldn’t it be better to just get rid of the magic in the first place and save them all the trouble? ****  
** **

Grand Pabbie shot him a look like he just said the wrong thing. “Believe it or not, Kristoff, but the Ice Queen used to be a little girl. And that little girl died when the sorcerer had no choice but to put the thing keeping her body alive inside a mirror.” ****  
** **

“Oh,” the blonde mumbles. Now he felt like a huge jerk. ****  
** **

“So, is there any way we can find this mountain?” Anna cuts in, hoping to defuse the awkward situation between Kristoff and his adopted family member. ****  
** **

“Ah, I know I’ve got that old map somewhere,” the troll moves his hands around his grass-made robe before pulling out an old, rolled-up piece paper. “Ah! Here it is!” he hands it over to Elsa. ****  
** **

“Thank you, Grand Pabbie,” the Queen bows her head in respect. “I don’t know how we can repay you.” ****  
** **

“Well, you can always stop by for a get-together visit instead of a life crisis one,” the old troll jokes, radiating a chuckle from Elsa. ****  
** **

“We’ll try our best next time,” Anna laughs before turning over to where Olaf and Sven are. “Hey, Olaf! Sven! It’s time to go! We just found something that could help us kick Han’s dirty little-!" ****  
** **

“Anna!” two voices rang out in the valley. ****  
** **

“Behind! I was going to say behind!”

* * *

The last time Mickey came to Arendelle spring had returned and the whole land was covered in greens. But now, as he stares off into the small window of the Gummi Ship, the area was once again covered in a thick amount of snow. ****  
** **

He’s glad that he, Donald, and Goofy decided to bring in winter clothes when they left Master Yen Sid’s tower. While he wasn’t exactly sure if there was another Ice Queen in the land, he suspected that the mirror could’ve possibly sent the land into another winter if it was actually out. ****  
** **

And he didn’t need another reminder of that magic’s bitter coldness. ****  
** **

“We’re here!” Sora’s voice rings through the ship. ****  
** **

Mickey immediately covers the small window he was looking out of when he heard footsteps pass by his room. Apparently, the reason for Donald’s weird behavior from before was actually him finding an idea to take revenge on Sora for nearly crushing him. The duck thought it would be funny to see the reaction on the young boy’s face when he goes outside without the proper gear on. ****  
** **

Mickey thought it was a cruel joke to play but decided to let it happen. Only to teach Donald a very important lesson he had learned from Riku. ****  
** **

“Well, aren’t you a happy camper,” speak of the Devil. ****  
** **

“Come on, Riku! This is our first adventure together where we’re all here. What’s not to be happy-?” ****  
** **

Sora’s voice was cut off when Mickey heard the sound of the Gummi Ship opening. Even from inside his room, he could feel how cold it was. ****  
** **

“COLD!” Sora and Kairi cried while Riku just yelled in horror. ****  
** **

The Gummi Ship was quickly closed off to the outside world. Mickey figured it was best to come out now. ****  
** **

He walked outside to see Sora and Kairi huddling together at one side of the door for warmth while Riku was on the other side, rubbing his arms and glaring at the mouse like he was the one who planned this. ****  
** **

Mickey quickly raises his hands up to show the silver-haired boy that none of this was his idea. ****  
** **

Riku nods before looking off to glare at something. ****  
** **

Laughter rang through the room and Mickey turns to see Donald and Goofy coming in, both dressed very warmly. Donald was the one laughing while Goofy was looking over at the shivering teenagers with concern in his eyes. ****  
** **

“T-This was  _ your _ doing?!” Riku demands as he marches up to the chuckling duck. Donald, not noticing the boy’s apparent anger, turns to Sora with a grin. ****  
** **

“Next time, don’t use me as landing cushion!” he tells the baffled boy before breaking into another fit of laughter. ****  
** **

It swiftly ended when Riku slammed his fist right on top of Donald’s head. ****  
** **

“WAK!” as he rubs his aching head, Donald looks up to glare at the boy. “What was that for?!” ****  
** **

“N-Next time you want to get revenge on Sora, leave me out of it!” Donald practically jumps back at the harsh tone in Riku’s voice before the silver-haired headed back to his corner. ****  
** **

“Gwarsh, what’s the matter with him?” Goofy points over to the scowling Riku in the corner. ****  
** **

“H-He hates the cold,” Sora tells them, his body still racked with shivers as he desperately tries to warm himself up. ****  
** **

“W-When he was eight, T-Tidus and Wakka thought it would be a funny idea to put ice cubes down his shirt when he was still wet,” Kairi begins as she rubs her hands together. ****  
** **

“H-He ended up getting the first-degree frostbite on his back because that day was as close as the islands can get to a chilly day, R-Riku’s hate the cold ever since,” Sora finishes, which draws a noise of understanding from Goofy. ****  
** **

Mickey had already heard the story from Riku himself after the two had accidentally arrived in a world that was chillier than most. ****  
** **

The boy had basically fled the area in order to find someplace warmer. ****  
** **

“Well, I guess it’s time we look outside and see if we’re anywhere close to the mountains,” Mickey spoke up in order to move the conversation. ****  
** **

“Uh, no offense Mickey, but I’m not going out there,” Riku states firmly. “I’d rather be bored to death in here then freeze to death out there.” ****  
** **

“I-I’m going have to agree with Riku on this one,” Kairi says. “The three of us aren’t exactly dressed for the weather out there.” ****  
** **

“Well, it’s a good thing I noticed this Trading Post on the radar a couple of feet from here,” Goofy informs them. “I’m sure they have plenty of winter clothing for you three to wear.” ****  
** **

“I still refuse to step one foot out there,” Riku states once more. ****  
** **

“O-Oh, come on, Riku,” Sora turns to his scowling friend, his body still shivering. “G-Goofy says the Trading Post isn’t even that far. I-I’m sure you can handle the cold for a few minutes!” 

* * *

“T-These minutes feel like an hour, S-Sora!” Riku growls to his friend as the three trudges through the snow as a cold wind blew right in their faces. All he got in response was a nervous chuckle that barely managed to get out through trembling lips. ****  
** **

Mickey had told the three teenagers to go to the Trading Post by themselves, saying that the people there might find it suspicious that they came in with walking and talking animals behind them. Though they were reluctant to leave the others behind, they also didn’t want to wait in the Gummi Ship for hours - no matter how much Riku complains ****  
** **

So here they are, trying to move through the snow despite the small gusts of snow blowing in their faces as the Trading Post stood a few feet away. ****  
** **

“I-If I see Donald again, I-I’m going to kill him!” Riku growls through his trembling lips as they reach the steps to the door. ****  
** **

“Y-You don’t mean that R-Riku,” Kairi tells him. “T-That’s just the cold and your PTSD talking…” ****  
** **

“N-No, I-I’m dead serious, K-Kairi. I-I am going to kill him for putting me through this!” his response makes his friends sigh in annoyance before Sora opens the door. The three immediately move inside to get away from the cold. ****  
** **

Riku was the one to slam the door closed. The three sigh in relief once they feel the warmth the building was providing. ****  
** **

“Yoo-hoo!” a voice called and the three turned to see what appears to be a giant man in a bright sweater sitting behind a counter. “Big Fall Blowout! Half price off on stuffed crows, scarecrows, and carved pumpkins of my own design,  _ ja _ ?” ****  
** **

The trio stares at the man like he had grown a second head. Fall? It felt more like winter out there for them. ****  
** **

“Um, no thank you,” Kairi politely declines. “But do you have any winter clothing for the three of us? Just enough so we don’t freeze to death out there?” ****  
** **

“Oh, that would be in our vinter department,” the strange man gestures over to the back of the building. There they see racks of clothing made for the winter season, not enough for a wide variety of choices but enough for them to pick out which clothes they want. ****  
** **

“T-Thank goodness,” Sora mutters in relief at the sight of the clothes before the three head over to find something that they like and can fit each of them. ****  
** **

As they sort through the clothes they could hear the door’s entrance opening, signaling that someone else has entered the shop. ****  
** **

“Hi, Oaken!” a woman’s cheerful voice rings through the small building, prompting the three to turn and see a woman with strawberry-blonde hair and a large, rugged man with blonde hair right behind her. ****  
** **

“Hello, Princess!” the large man greets the woman but when he turns his attention to the other man, the smile instantly leaves his face. “Oh, it’s you…” ****  
** **

“Not here to cause any trouble,” the blonde man quickly tells Oaken. “Just here to get some supplies.” ****  
** **

The large man behind the counter grunts but said no more. Seeing that their conversation was done, the teenagers walk over to the counter with their selected clothing in their arms. ****  
** **

The man’s smile quickly returns to his face upon seeing them. “Ah, a real howler in October, isn’t it?” ****  
** **

They could tell he was starting up a conversation to avoid the awkward tension from the other people in the shop. Though they really had no idea what was going, Riku decided it was best to just humor him. “Y-Yeah, if you can call this October…” ****  
** **

“So, vhat brings you, children, out here when the veather is like this?” Oaken asks them once they placed their clothes on the counter. ****  
** **

The question made them freeze. They couldn’t exactly tell him that they were on a mission to find something that could stop a potentially dangerous weapon. Besides, who knows if this guy won’t tattle on them to the person who has said dangerous weapon. ****  
** **

Kairi was the one to quickly make up a story. “Oh, we’re just going on a road trip up the mountains.” ****  
** **

“Yeah,” Sora quickly catches on. “I-It’s been a while since the three of us went anywhere together. We just figured going up to the mountains might be a fun adventure.” ****  
** **

Though he winced at the stutter in Sora’s voice, Riku continues on. “But then the blizzard happened and here we are; trying not to freeze to death before we could even reach our destination.” ****  
** **

“Speaking of your destination,” the trio to see the woman from before, walking up to them with a suspicious look in her eyes. “Which mountains did you say you were heading to? I mean there’s only two mountain ranges in this area; the North Mountain and the Forgotten Mountains, the one that’s near an abandoned village.” ****  
** **

Riku instantly knew she was interrogating them and was quick to answer her question. “It’s just a mountain we saw, figured it’d be a cool place to climb. That’s basically it.” ****  
** **

“Oh, I’m sure,” the woman draws out, not believing him one bit. “I bet it’s just a nice little stroll between three friends. Definitely not three spies sent by Hans to report back to him when they see-!” ****  
** **

The whole time, her voice got louder and she was getting dangerously close to them so Riku quickly pulled Sora and Kairi back before she got too close. Thankfully, they were saved by the man she was with, who put his large hand on her shoulder. ****  
** **

“Anna, you’re freaking them out,” he tells the woman before turning his attention to the trio. “Sorry, she just met up with her ex and she’s been pretty cranky ever since.” ****  
** **

Riku almost snorts in disbelief. That’s hardly an excuse for threatening his friends! ****  
** **

“Anyway, Oaken,” the man turns to the other man behind the counter. “What’s the price for these supplies?” he gestures to pickaxe and rope on the counter next to the teens’ clothes. ****  
** **

“That vould be seventy,” Oaken replies. This makes the man’s eyes widen. ****  
** **

“W-What?! That’s ridiculous!” he shouts in outrage. “Last time it was forty and now it’s seventy?!” ****  
** **

“Supply and demand, that’s all,” was Oaken's reply. ****  
** **

The man practically growls. “Look, buddy, you can’t just jack up your prices to take advantage of-!” ****  
** **

As the man continues his rant, the teenagers watch as Oaken stood up from his seat. Sora gulps when he realizes how tall this man actually was. Riku pulled both Sora and Kairi closer to him as a response. ****  
** **

They watch as Oaken basically just lifts the man onto his shoulder before throwing him out into the snow. “Bye-bye!” he calls before slamming the door shut. ****  
** **

The three stare at the man in slight horror. This guy practically towers over Riku and could lift a grown man onto his shoulders with no problem at all. Of course, they would be a little scared. ****  
** **

“I’m very sorry you children had to see this violence,” the large man apologies once he sits back down. “I shall add a discount to your clothes so ve’ll have good feelings. Now, your clothes shall only cost thirty. That’s good,  _ ja _ ?” ****  
** **

The three were completely speechless. First, they see this giant of a man throw someone out because they insulted him and now he’s offering them a discount to apologize. Not knowing what else to do, Kairi just puts a bag of Munny on the counter, not caring how much was in it. ****  
** **

“Keep the change,” she tells him with a straight face before she and the boys take their clothes off the counter. With one quick glance at the shop, Kairi turns back to ask, “Is there any-?” ****  
** **

“The girls’ room is on your left and the boys’ room are on your right,” Oaken answers before she could even finish her question. With a nod of thanks, Kairi quickly makes her way over to the girls’ changing room while Riku and Sora head over to the boys’.

They wasted no time in shutting the doors once they were in. They just wanted to get away from that man. ****  
** **

In the back of their minds, they still kept a lingering thought on the woman who interrogated them. 

* * *

Kristoff was not having a good day; his girlfriend’s ex - who he still wants to punch, by the way - comes back and bringing along another Eternal Winter with him, he gets thrown out of a shop by the same crook he had trouble with before, and now he’s indulging in one of Anna’s conspiracy theories. 

He highly doubts that Hans would hire teenagers to spy on them. 

“Don’t you think you’re taking this a little too far?” he asks her as they wait for the teens to show up right behind a snow pile. “I mean, really Anna, they’re kids!” ****  
** **

“They said they were heading up to a mountain,” Anna quickly points out. “Don’t you think it’s a little suspicious that after we found out the only weapon we have against Hans is on a mountain, three people who we’ve never seen before show up and say that they want to go on a mountain? Well, I find it a little suspicious so I’m going to wait here and follow them so I can see what Hans is planning!” ****  
** **

“You don’t even know if they even work for Hans!” Kristoff exclaims in exasperation. “If we’ve never seen them before, how would Hans?” ****  
** **

Before Anna could argue any further, the door to the Trading Posts opens and the three teenagers came piling out of it as if their lives depended on it. They were dressed in the clothes they had paid for, so they must be warmer than they were before. Although, the tall one looks like he’s a bit overdressed. ****  
** **

“Are you sure you kids don’t want to try the sauna?” Oaken’s voice calls from the shop. ****  
** **

“We’re good, thanks!” the girl yells before shutting the door as quickly as she could without making it look rude. Once the door was shut, the three instantly sighed. ****  
** **

“Well, that’s one crazy guy we’ve encounter here,” the tall one remarks, his voice muffled by the white face mask he’s wearing. ****  
** **

The other two nod in agreement. The other boy took notice of his friend’s wardrobe. “Aren’t you a bit overdressed in that, Riku?” ****  
** **

That was exactly what Kristoff was thinking.  ****  
** **

Compare to the other boy - who wore an appliqued cape with a fur-trimmed over a red jacket, black snow pants with red trimmings, black gloves, a red wool hat that seems to be covering all of his hair, black lobbens, and a pair of snow goggles - and the girl - who wore a long pink cape with white fur-trimmed over a pink jacket, a long skirt, white boots, gloves, and earmuffs on her head, and a pair of goggles as well -, their friend seemed to have put more on than necessary. ****  
** **

“Hey, if you two want me to stay out here, let me dress on my terms,” Riku points out, possibly glaring at his friends from behind those large goggles of his. “Besides, I’m more surprised that you were able to find a hat that could fit all of that hair of yours, Sora!” ****  
** **

Sora, the one in red and black, looks a little offended by that. “Come on, Riku! My hair’s not that big!” ****  
** **

“Okay, that’s not enough, you two,” the girl speaks up before the boys could continue with their little argument. “Let’s just head back and meet up with the others.” ****  
** **

With reluctant sighs from the two boys, the three began to make their way away from the Trading Post. Once they seem far enough away, Anna decides to make her next move. ****  
** **

“Let’s go,” she whispers before slowly following the children. Kristoff had no choice but to follow her just so she doesn’t get in too much trouble. ****  
** **

A few minutes of trailing them, Kristoff finally spoke up in a low whisper. “Anna, this is crazy!” ****  
** **

“You know me, I’m all about crazy,” Anna retorts. ****  
** **

“We are stalking children, Anna,” Kristoff explains slowly to get her to understand. “We could be mistaken for predators!” ****  
** **

“Okay, now you’re exaggerating,” Anna huffs. ****  
** **

Before Kristoff could argue any further, the tall one - Riku, was that his name? - suddenly stops. Seeing this, Kristoff quickly grabs Anna and ducks behind log before the kid could turn around and see them. ****  
** **

“What’s wrong, Riku?” he could hear the younger boy asking. ****  
** **

“I thought I…” Riku trails off. “Nevermind. Just keep moving.” ****  
** **

He could hear the kids moving again, prompting him and Anna to stand up from their hiding place. “Next time, warn me when you do that,” she whispers in annoyance. ****  
** **

Kristoff could only shrug in response. ****  
** **

They continue to follow the children for a while now and Kristoff couldn’t help but feel like something strange was going on. He figured that the tall guy was the one who was the most aware of his surroundings but he hasn’t turned around since the first time. And, for some reason, he feels like those kids are walking faster than before. ****  
** **

But he didn’t have time to dwell on that for long when the trio turned a corner by a few trees. He and Anna slowly make their way over in hopes they could catch up. ****  
** **

When they turned the corner, they saw a clearing ahead but no sign of the kids. ****  
** **

“What?!” Anna shrieks, taking a few steps into the clearing. “B-But they were right in front of us!” ****  
** **

Kristoff walks up to her, glancing at the clearing to find any sign. “Maybe they-” ****  
** **

He didn’t even get a chance to finish his thought when something fell on top of him and Anna, forcing them to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please leave a comment!


	5. The Meeting of Heroes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are not off to a good start between our heroes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually finished this chapter on the 30th but decided to wait until today to upload it because spacing. Also, the sceret epilogue for Kingdom Hearts III is supposed to be released today which is good because I need some answers!

Kristoff should’ve known that the teens figured out that they were being followed, it explains why they were walking so fast before. How else were they able to hide up on top of trees, waiting for them to show up before taking the chance to jump them?

“Hey, hey!” Anna screams once the girl lands on top of her, forcing her to the ground. The same thing happened to Kristoff when the two boys landed on him.

“Alright, look- Whoa!” Kristoff tries to turn so he could lay on his back but he quickly pulls back when he sees these strange looking blades pointing right at his face. He could see the same thing happening with Anna out of the corner of his eye.

“Alright, talk,” the tallest one, Riku, demands, and Kristoff could vaguely make out eyes glaring at him through those thick goggles. “Why are you following us?!”

“We should be asking you three the same thing!” Anna cries, feeling a little braver than Kristoff at the face of a strange blade right in front of her nose. “How much is Hans paying you and what’s his plan?!”

This makes the glares the teens had fallen into looks of confusion. “Who’s Hans?” the other boy asks.

Before Anna or Kristoff could say anything in response, Elsa and Sven came running into the field, looking around frantically.

“Anna?! Kristoff?!” she gasps when she sees the strange teenagers on top of them, pointing their weapons right at their faces. On instinct, Elsa freezes the handles of their weapons, right where their hands are gripping.

“COLD!” the boy and girl cried while the other just yelled in pain as the three dashed off the two adults while also dropping their weapons. Anna and Kristoff took the moment to get and see the teens cradling the hands where the ice touched them a few ways away.

Upon seeing that they were still surrounded, the teens had brought their weapons back - did those things just appeared out of nowhere?! - without the ice on the handles.

However, Elsa was quick to react; large ice spikes began to spring up right in front of the trio. Startled, the children quickly backed up as the spikes got closer, one of them even tried to swing her blades at them to break it. Realizing that the ice couldn’t break with their strikes, the three had no choice but to back up into a tree.

The spikes loomed dangerously close to them.

“Alright, let’s try this again,” Anna growls, taking a few steps closer. “What is Hans planning that he sent you three out here?”

“We don’t know anyone named Hans! We just came here today!” the girl cries frantically, trying to move as far away as she can from the spikes with what little room she had left.

“Oh, yeah, like the story about how you three just came here to visit a mountain?” Anna retorts.

“We actually are trying to go to a mountain, honest!” the younger boy exclaims as he tries to move the arm that held his weapon, which happens to look like a sword that’s shaped into a key.

Before Anna could say anything on that, more voices could be heard in the clearing.

“Sora!” a raspy voice calls.

“Kairi!” a voice with a strange accent yells frantically.

“Riku!” who has a voice as squeaky as that?

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?!” the same raspy voice yells, now sounding angry. The people of Arendelle turned their heads and were met with a strange sight.

There was a mouse, a duck, and a dog, all running like normal people towards them with weapons in hand. It left the humans completely speechless; snow powers and talking snowmen, they can handle that. But it’s another to see animals walking and wearing clothes like humans!

“Let’em go!” the dog yells, brandishing his shield once he and the other two reach the area where the teens were trapped. The mouse and duck did the same with their weapons.

“Okay, ignoring the fact that you three are impossible,” Anna mutters before shaking her head to regain her tough exterior. “We’re not letting anyone go unless you tell us what Hans is planning besides that freaky mirror of his!”

In an instant, the mouse’s weapon disappears from his hands. “W-Wait, mirror? Are you saying that you all know where the Mirror of Skadi is? The one that has power over ice and snow?"

The three shot each other looks. Elsa steps forward. “Even if we did know, why is it a concern of yours?”

“Gosh, we’re just here to get rid of the mirror!” the mouse tells them as he holds his hands up in a form of peace. “We’re not helping the fella that has the mirror, honest!”

“Are you sure?” Anna asks hesitantly.

“Yes!” the mouse nods. “Look, if you know about the weapon that can destroy the mirror, then you know about the sorcerer and his apprentice that came to Arendelle a long time ago to stop the Ice Queen. I’m the apprentice!”

Anna, Kristoff, and Elsa’s eyes widen when the mouse made this revelation. This gigantic mouse was the apprentice from so long ago? For a moment, they wanted to question more but looking at the dog and duck briefly, they decided it wasn’t worth the impossible answers they might get.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Elsa quickly thaws the spikes holding the teens up, which they instantly relax to since they don’t have to press up against the tree anymore. “It’s just things have been crazy since an old adversary of ours showed up with that mirror.”

“It’s the ex, by the way,” Kristoff says to the teens, who are currently panting after holding their breaths for so long when they were cornered by the ice. They shot him looks before turning their attention back to the conversation.

“Well, I don’t blame ya,” Mickey agrees to what Elsa had previously. “I just get worked up even thinking about that mirror.”

“Uh, speaking of getting worked up,” Anna nervously laughs as she faces the teenagers. “Sorry about interrogating you back there. It’s kind of hard to trust anything now that Hans is here.”

“Duly noted,” Riku says in a flat voice.

“Why don’t we all start over?” Elsa suggests. “I’m Queen Elsa of Arendelle, this is my sister, Anna,” Anna gives them all a shy wave. “Our friend, Kristoff and his best friend, Sven,” the blonde gave them a half-hearted wave while Sven just snorts a greeting.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you!” Mickey said in a cheerful tone. “I’m Mickey, these are my friends, Donald, Goofy,” the dog gives them a cheerful wave but the duck barely casts them a glance. “And over there are Sora, Kairi, and Riku!”

The other two teens, now named Sora and Kairi, gave them a wave as cheerful as Goofy’s but Riku just gave them a lift of his hand.

“Well, not that introductions are-” Elsa was cut off when a certain snowman made his presence known from behind the teenagers.

“Are we making new friends?!” the trio jumped back and nearly yelled when they saw Olaf suddenly appear in-between Kairi and Riku. “Oh! Oh! Oh! Let me say my name! I’m Olaf and I like warm-!”

Olaf didn’t even get a chance to finish his sentence since Kairi, upon seeing the snowman that shouldn’t be able to walk and talk, screamed and flailed, accidently kicking his head. The head was sent flying until it landed into Riku’s arms.

“Hello, oddly overdressed person!” the head greeted the stunned Riku.

“A talking decapitated head is talking to me,” Riku deadpanned. “Now I can officially say I’ve seen everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the chapter and please leave a comment!


	6. Up the Mountain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heroes begin their journey up the mountain to find the Lavender Crystal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As of writing this story, I decided to draw the idea I had that created this whole thing. Can I just say, to this day, I'm still surprised that no one has drawn this idea down? I mean, I've seen an MMD and a Photoshopped version of the idea but no fan art of it actually happening.
> 
> I'm not gonna tell you guys what that idea is. If I did, I would spoil the whole story. Even if I do finish the drawing, I'll wait until the reveal chapter to publish it.
> 
> Anyway, here's the next chapter!

After explaining about how Olaf could exist - mostly for the sake of calming Kairi down - and the situation with Hans and Arendelle to the travelers, Kristoff was the one who made the suggestion that they all travel together to the Forgotten Mountains.

“Since we’re all looking for the same weapon for the same purpose, it might be best if we all go together so none of us accidentally run into Hans,” the mountain man explained. “Besides, I don’t think any of you actually want to walk to a mountain in this weather.”

“He’s right,” Riku agreed. “And for some insane reason you guys decline that, I’m staying in the Gummi Ship. I don’t even care if I get cabin fever from that.”

“Wow, you really don’t like the cold, do you?” Olaf remarked from his place beside the silver-haired boy.

In the end, the foreign travelers agreed to Kristoff’s suggestion and that was how they all found themselves on Kristoff’s sleigh where Sven begins to move them towards the Mountains. The sleigh now consisting of Kristoff, Anna, and Elsa sitting in the front, Riku, Sora, and Kairi in the middle, and Olaf, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were in the back. However, the snowman had pressed himself in between the middle and back seats so he could converse with the young Keyblade wielders.

“So, do your fancy-looking swords just disappear when you put them away or do they go into their own weird closet that none of us can see?” Olaf questioned, looking between Sora and Kairi with excited eyes.

“They’re called Keyblades, Olaf,” Kairi corrected the snowman, completely at eased now than she was before when she first saw the alive creature.

“And about where they go, well,” Sora turns to Riku, who is currently rubbing his arms against the wind soaring past them as the sleigh moves higher. “I actually want to know too. Where do our Keyblades go, Great Master Riku.”

This drawls a snort from the older boy. “For someone who wants to become a Keyblade Master, you sure don’t read a lot of the books that tell you those kinds of things.”

Kairi and the humanoid animals instantly chuckle at Riku’s comment while Sora looks flabbergasted by it. “Hey! It’s not _my_ fault that whenever I tried to read the books _you_ always come in and ask me to spar!”

“Then learn to say no!”

“As much as I would like to hear you two argue over this rather interesting conversation,” Kristoff cuts in before Sora could say anything. “Is there anything we need to about this weapon, Mickey? Like is it going to be dangerous for us to touch or is there going to be some price we have to pay to get it?”

“Well, you’re right about it being dangerous for some of us to touch,” Mickey said. “It’s called the Lavender Crystal; an object that has the ability to remove all magic if something were to touch it. My Master kept in a cave that’s guarded by a creature that was said to be very powerful during the winter, so we better be prepared if it attacks us.”

“What do you mean it’s dangerous for _some_ of us to touch the crystal?” Anna questioned. “Why isn’t dangerous for all of us to touch it?”

“As I said, it absorbs magic,” Mickey pointed out. “If me, Riku, Sora, or Kairi were to touch it then not only will it absorb our power to wield the Keyblades but it’ll rip our hearts from our bodies.”

“Wait, what?!” Sora whips around to face the mouse. “You never mentioned something like that!”

“Our Keyblades are connected to our hearts, Sora,” Mickey explained. “They’re a part of us so if the Lavender Crystal tried to get rid of our magic it’ll be like trying to take an arm out.”

“Why are you so worried? We’re not even supposed to touch the crystal anyway so just stay as far away from it as you can,” Riku pointed out. Sora just sighs before returning back to his original position in his seat.

“What about me, Mickey?” Elsa spoke up. “Would holding the crystal be dangerous for me as well if I were to accidentally touch it?”

“Gosh, it really depends,” the mouse scratched his head. “Were ya born with your powers or were ya cursed?”

“Born,” was her immediate response.

“Then you’ll be in the same danger zone with us,” Mickey concluded.

Elsa nodded before she thought of something that’s been bugging her for a while. “Mickey, earlier you called that mirror the Mirror of Skadi. Was that the name of the woman who was like me?”

One could see Mickey’s posture instantly deflating the moment he heard that name. “Yes, that was her name…”

Elsa almost didn’t want to continue her questions with how Mickey reacted to the first one but her curiosity about someone having the same powers got the better of her. “Can you tell me what happened? How did she lose control over her powers that made her turned into somebody so horrible?”

“Gosh,” Mickey sighs. “I haven’t thought about that in a long time…”

“You don’t have to tell-” Elsa tried to retract her question but Mickey held up a hand to silence her.

“No, it’s alright. You’re curious, I get that,” he tells her softly. “Believe or not, Skadi wasn’t this cold Ice Queen that legends had made her out to be; she was actually a sweet little girl who just wanted to help people.”

“Really?” Elsa was so surprised at the similarities between her and this woman. “What was she like?”

“Gosh, where do I begin?” a small smile forms on the mouse’s face as memories surface. “She always wanted to make people smile with her powers. I could still remember the day she would run around the courtyard and have snowball fights with her servants. It’s funny to think that despite being able to heal people from their frozen hearts, she could still act like a little-”

“Wait, hold up,” Kristoff cuts in. “Sorry if I’m interrupting but did you just said that she had the ability to thaw a frozen heart?” Elsa and Anna’s eyes widen as well when they realized this as well.

“Y-Yeah,” Mickey looked a little startled by their expressions. “Why does that sound so surprising to all of you?”

“Because the only we cure we know for a frozen heart is an act of true love. Believe me, I would know,” Anna said.

“Well, gosh,” Mickey remarked. “I don’t know what else to say to convince you three but she did had the power to remove ice from someone’s heart if they were struck with ice magic. She was like a healer during those days.”

“Wait, what’s a frozen heart?” Kairi asked.

“It’s basically ice magic freezing your heart and you turn into this ice statue,” at the widening eyes from the human Keyblade wielders and the other two humanoid animals, Kristoff just shrugs. “What? You guys said you deal with magic on a daily basis, this shouldn’t be a big surprise for you!”

“Not that kind of magic!” Goofy exclaimed. Sure, freezing someone in place was easy enough with ice magic. But to turn them into solid ice forever?

“Moving on,” Anna cuts in as she turns to Mickey. “You were saying something about Skadi?”

“Oh, right!” Mickey said. “Well, since my Master saw how powerful she was he decided to take her in as an apprentice. We both left Arendelle so we could prepare the tower where she was supposed to train. But, when we got back…”

At this, Mickey’s face falls. “Apparently, time moves strangely in this world. We were supposed to be gone for only an hour but when we got back nearly thirty years had passed.”

“Thirty years?!” Anna and Sora both shouted in astonishment while the others just looked on with jaw-dropped expressions at this revelation.

“Yep,” the mouse nodded. “Took me by surprise too when I realized it.”

“Wait, if time moves differently for you, does that mean if you all were to leave right now and come back to what feels like hours for you then years would’ve passed by us?” Olaf questioned before he blinked. “Wow, coming from me, that questioned sounded too smart.”

“Well, not exactly,” Mickey said in response to Olaf’s question. “My Master knew that mirror was found within hours ago and it seems like not long has passed when that enemy of yours used it against your kingdom. I guessed these time jumps can happen pretty randomly at some point.

“When we realized what had happened, my master and I tried to look for Skadi but when we found her…”

“She wasn’t that girl you knew anymore, was she?” Riku finished and Mickey nodded.

“It was like looking a different person wearing a mask of your friend’s face,” the mouse shuddered. “I don’t know exactly what happened to her all those years but I guess some scary things happened and she had no one to turned to.”

Those words struck a chord within Elsa. To think that isolation from the ones who cared about her was what caused Skadi to become this infamous Ice Queen. She thought about all the times she self-consciously forced herself to isolate from everyone, including her sister. Without Anna, would she had become someone like Skadi?

“Then you had to use the mirror,” Anna finished for Mickey, shaking Elsa from her thoughts.

Mickey sighs. “Yeah…”

“But… It wasn’t your fault, Mickey,” Sora tried to cheer the mouse up. “It’s not like you knew that would happen.”

“I know,” came the dejected reply. Everyone became silent after that, not knowing what to say to get over the crestfallen mood that had overtaken the sleigh. However, Sven came to rescue by slowing down.

Kristoff looks over to see what made his friend stop before he noticed what was ahead of them. “Well, we’re here.”

Everyone looks up at the announcement and saw what was ahead of them. The rocky road they’re on had become narrow and turned sharply to the left. As their eyes drifted over the edge of their path, they could see the rushing winds they were previously in down below a couple of yards. From this distance, the raging storm below looked like a harmless cloud in the sky.

At least the winds up here were a little less harsh than the ones from that “harmless cloud”.

“Wow!” Olaf gasps as they all exited the sleigh and the little snowman runs a little too close to an edge for everyone’s comfort. “Look at how high we all are! Ooh! There’s that vicious blizzard we were all in! Hello, vicious blizzard!” Olaf waves a twig arm at the cloud below.

Sora hesitantly steps up and grabs his twig arm. “I think you might want to step back a few inches from there, Olaf,” the brunet tells the confused snowman, lightly guiding him away from the ledge.

Kristoff lightly pats Sven on the head, knowing that the reindeer couldn’t continue on because of the sleigh. “See you later, buddy,” he told Sven before grabbing a pickaxe and a rope. He turns to the others. “Shall we?”

They began to make their way through the narrow path to the cave. Each of them kept close to the wall so they don’t accidentally slip from what little path they had. When a wind became stronger, they would stop and grip the wall tightly so they don’t somehow fly off.

“I feel like this mountain is bigger than the North Mountain,” Anna comments once the wind dies down.

“Well, what did you expect when even Hans’s storm couldn’t even reach here,” Kristoff retorted, rubbing his eyes when some of the dust got in them. “How much closer are we to this cave, anyway?”

“We’re right here!” the blonde man blinks at Riku’s sudden announcement, not expecting to arrive there so soon. Yet, ahead of them stood an opening to a cave, big enough for all of them to fit through even though Riku and Kristoff probably have to duck just to get in.

“Oh, an ominous dark cave,” Olaf says in awe as he moves to the entrance. “This looks safe… To the crystal!”

Before anybody could stop him, the snowman was already running into the cave, disappearing from their line of sight.

“Olaf!” Anna and Sora cried, quickly following after him.

“Olaf, don’t run off!” Elsa called into the cave as she and the others ran after the three. It was only a few steps in that they found Sora and Anna stopping Olaf from going any further by holding onto his twig arms.

“Olaf, you can’t just run into a cave when there’s this dangerous magic-sucking crystal lying around. You could’ve accidentally touched it and you would have melted!” Anna scolded the blank-eyed snowman.

“But… How could I have touch when it’s lodged in that interesting glowing formation on the wall over there that’s too high for me to reach?” Olaf questioned.

Everyone stared at him with perplexed looks. Why would he- Wait a minute. They turned their eyes forward and the strange rock formation that Olaf described was there, up against the wall of the cave. The rock was almost amber-like with the way it was seen through, but it was multi-colored and a small glow was radiating from all the colors it provided.

But one color glowed more brightly than the others. Lodged in between the red and yellow rocks was this glowing pebble that had the color of a lavender flower. It only took a second for everyone to realized what that pebble actually was.

“Awesome!” Sora cheered as he makes his way over. “We found the crystal!”

Then, to everyone’s horror, Sora stuck his hand out once he got close enough to almost grab the crystal from its resting place.

“Oh, no, no, no, no!” Riku yelled as he wrapped his arms around Sora’s waist and dragged the boy back before he could touch the crystal. “You are _not_ touching that!”

Sora, not seeing everyone’s worried looks, looked at his best friend in confusion. “But Riku, don’t we need to crystal to destroy-?”

“Do you remember what happens if Keyblade wielders like us were to touch the Lavender Crystal?” the boy’s eyes grew wide when it finally clicked. “Yeah, thought so. I don’t know about you, but I sure as heck don’t want to see you act like you just got your arm got ripped off!”

“I’m just going to stand back a few feet,” Sora said as he takes a few steps back, everyone sighs in relief at this.

“Well, looks like it’s a job for ordinary old me,” Anna said as she walks over to the glowing rocks. “And just so we’re clear, it won’t do anything to me because I don’t have magic?”

“Yep!” Mickey confirmed.

“Oh, good!” she turns back to the rocks, rubbing her hands together before grabbing the Lavender Crystal in between her index finger and thumb. Anna flinches, expecting something to happen to her that was similar to what Mickey described.

Thankfully, nothing happened. With a relieved laugh, Anna pulled the crystal out of the rock and turned to the others with a smile on her face. “Look at that, I got-!” 

_SSSCCCRRRREEEEECCCCCHHHH!!!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoped you guys enjoyed the chapter and please leave a comment!


	7. The Guardian of the Crystal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our heroes meet and the Guardian of the Lavender Crystal and it's not happy to find intruders in its cave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The longer the chapters are, the longer it takes to update them. That is something that I have come to learn. Curse you school and procrastination for not helping me on time! 
> 
> Actually, you know what? Quality over quantity. Never mind the statement from above, I'm just really excited to write down the idea that inspired this story. Seriously, you guys have no idea how long I've wanted to do this and the lack of it from other media has really encouraged that idea.

_ SCREECH! _

No one was prepared for the ear-shattering shriek to pierce through the cave, bouncing off the walls and make the ground underneath their feet feel like it's moving. Everyone screamed as they put their hands - or other appendages for a few others - over their ears to block off the noise.

But that did little to ease the horrible noise that’s threatening to explode their eardrums.

Despite how loud the shriek was, Kristoff was still able to hear something else. It was a loud thump. Not one thump, but multiple ones that could be heard faintly over the noise that sounded like a woman and a mountain lion screaming at the same time.

He could feel his heart beating against his chest. Someone, please tell him it wasn’t what he thought it was.

After a few more seconds of the painful agony in their ears, the shriek finally died down. Everyone sighs in relief but it was short lived when they all heard the thumps that slowly got closer and closer to them with each passing second.

Immediately, the Keyblade Wielders, Donald, and Goofy brought their weapons and got into battle stances as they face the direction the noise was coming from. Anna, seeing that they were all looking in her general direction, whips to her right so she can see what’s coming.

From the darkness of the cave, the source of the noise emerged. At once, everyone took a step back at what they saw.

One word that could basically describe the creature that stood before them was enormous. The horns on its head barely manage to scrape the rocks on the ceiling when it stood to its full height. Glowing white eyes stare in their direction, making everyone flinch when they locked eyes with it. The thing had the head of a goat if a goat had razor sharp teeth the size of katanas. It had the body of a human with long, sharp claws and the hooves for legs.

But what was honestly the most disturbing feature about this creature was how skinny it was. Its limbs were practically skeletal and they could see its ribcage through its gaunt stomach.

The creature snarled at them.

“Are you kidding me?!” Kristoff yelled in disbelief once he recognized the creature before turning to Mickey. “No offense to your master, Mouse, but that guy has a really sick sense of humor!”

“Hey, don’t talk to him like that!” Donald was quick to defend his king and friend.

“W-What is that thing?!” Anna stutters out as she backs away from the towering creature that stood a little too close for her comfort.

“It’s a Wendigo!” Kristoff said. “They’re creatures who live on Mountains that are starving every day. Which means we’re basically a buffet for it!”

“It wants to eat us?!” Goofy screamed in fear, bringing his shield up a bit higher.

Before Kristoff could say anything more on the creature, Olaf suddenly begins to make his way over to the Wendigo. A bright smile was on the snowman’s face as he says, “Oh! So your name is Wendigo! Nice to meet you, I’m Olaf and I like warm hugs!”

“Olaf, don’t!” Elsa cried but her words fell to deaf ears as Olaf came closer to the Wendigo.

“So, I know you’re supposed to be a guardian in here but we  _ really _ need to use that crystal to save our home. Do you think we can just borrow it for a while? I promise we’ll bring it-”

He was cut off when the Wendigo suddenly grabbed him with its large hand and began to pull him close to its face.

“Olaf!” Everyone screamed.

“Ooh! Are you taking me on a ride?” Olaf asked in excitement, failing to see the upcoming danger he was in. “I will admit, this does seem pretty high up but I’m sure I’ll enjoy it any-”

Olaf didn’t even get a chance to finish his sentence when he fell right into the Wendigo’s open mouth. The creature snapped its jaws shut once it was sure its meal was inside.

Everyone could only stare at what happened in shocked horror, all of them unsure what to after seeing what they had just witnessed.

“This is a very dry ride…” Olaf’s muffled voice came from within the Wendigo’s mouth.

The shocked silence was finally over when Goofy fainted.

“Hey, let him go, you sorry excuse for a goat!” Anna shouted as she marches towards the towering creature, despite the protests from everyone else.

The Wendigo looked over in her direction, possibly contemplating if she was going to be its next meal or not. However, any thoughts on food were instantly wiped away when it saw the purple glow in her hand.

The crystal…

The Wendigo let out a shriek, the same loud shriek they had heard moments ago. Everyone instantly covers their ears to stop their ears from ringing. It was loud enough to wake Goofy up from his fainting spell with a loud yell.

Since the Wendigo had to open its mouth to shriek, Olaf took his chance to escape. However, he did not anticipate how high the drop would be so he ended up falling apart when he landed.

Anna, in order to cover her ears, accidentally dropped the Lavender Crystal. The Wendigo saw this and reached down to grab it. All the while, it was still using its piercing shriek to disorient everyone.

Once it had the crystal in its grasps the Wendigo stopped shrieking, giving everyone a chance to relax.

“Well, I’m going deaf early,” Riku remarked with little humor in his voice.

“Did ya say something?!” Goofy yelled.

It took a second for Anna to realize she wasn’t holding the crystal anymore and whipped her head up to the Wendigo. “Hey! I was holding that!”

The Wendigo snarls at her before using its free hand to knock her away. She ended up slamming into a wall.

“Anna!” this immediately sets the warriors off as they charge towards the creature. Meanwhile, Elsa began to make ice spikes spring up from the ground near the Wendigo, trapping it in place so it can give the others a chance to attack.

Sora and Riku used the spikes for high strikes near the Wendigo’s face, Mickey, Kairi, and Goofy were busy striking the Wendigo on the legs, and Donald was busy sprouting magic on whatever he could hit.

These combine attacks and lack of room to move began to overwhelm the Wendigo. It tried to swat the two Keyblade wielders away but they would just dodge out of the way before coming back with more strikes.

Then Donald fired a Firaga spell at it, hitting it right in the chest. It roared in pain and began to flail its arms around.

In the process, it dropped the Lavender Crystal.

That was the last straw.

The Wendigo snapped its head back and let out its deafening shriek.

At once, everyone stopped with what they were doing in order to cover their ears to block off the noise. Sora and Riku were still on the spikes but no longer attacking the Wendigo. The creature used this chance to swat the two with its large hands, sending them flying into opposite walls. It then took the chance to crush the spikes with its hands so it can finally move freely.

It was then the Wendigo stopped shrieking, giving everyone - minus Riku and Sora - a chance to relax. But the moment to relax was gone when they saw the Wendigo free and a large hand coming towards the remaining warriors.

“Hey, leave them-!” Elsa didn’t even get a chance to use her powers when one of the Wendigo’s hands swung her and Kristoff into a wall, momentarily stunning them. It gave the Wendigo enough time to grab Donald and Goofy.

“WAK!”

“HELP!”

Hearing his friends’ cries manages to snap Sora out of the dizzy spell he was in when his head connected with the wall. He looks up only to gasp when he sees the two in the Wendigo’s grasps while Anna, Kairi, Mickey, and Riku tried to keep the two from going any higher by grabbing onto their legs.

Sora put his free hand on the ground in order to push himself up so he can go help when he felt something odd. He didn’t exactly know how to describe the feeling other than it felt like something was tugging on his insides from within.

It was only seconds later that the tugging began to hurt. It wasn’t that bad so he figured he could just breathe through it.

Then it became excruciating. He could barely hold back a scream from his escaping as the tugging on his heart - which he had come to realize when the tugging started to hurt - became too much for him to handle. He jerked back, taking his arm off to the ground so he could curl in on himself against the wall he crashed into earlier.

Just as he did that, the pain stopped.

Sora was left panting, his whole body exhausted after what happened. What was that? He hadn’t felt pain like that since Hollow Bastion where Kairi’s heart made itself known and tried to return to her body.

He looked over to where he was moments ago and his breath got caught in his throat when he saw the Lavender Crystal not so far off from him.

Did he actually just-?

Against his better judgment, Sora slowly reached a hand out to the crystal.

His finger was only a centimeter away from the crystal when he felt the tugging sensation again. He immediately jerked his hand away the second he felt it.

He had barely touched the crystal yet he still almost lost his powers - and possibly his life - from that.

“Let’em go, you big, scrawny-!”

Anna’s shouting brought him back to the situation at hand. He looked over to see the Wendigo was now lifting them all up, the others desperately hanging onto Donald and Goofy’s legs so they didn’t end up falling from the great height. He had to think of something or they’ll all be the main course for this thing.

His eyes shifted from the Lavender Crystal to the Wendigo then over to the multicolored amber he had crashed into earlier. The Wendigo just wanted the Lavender Crystal, right?

“Please don’t eat us, Mr. Wendigo!” Goofy cried as he and Donald struggle to get out the giant’s grip.

“Yeah, we don’t taste very good!” Donald shouted.

“Besides, Donald tastes like a duck!”

“Exactly!” it took a second for what Goofy said to sink in. “Hey!”

The Wendigo’s snarling stopped Donald from exploding at Goofy and the two turned to scream when they saw the Wendigo’s sharp teeth coming towards them.

“Hey! Wendy!”

The Wendigo’s jaws snapped shut when it heard Sora’s voice addressing it with that name. With a snarl, it whips its head towards the boy, who was waving something in his hand at it. The others look over as well, wondering what the heck he was doing to catch the creature’s attention.

Then they noticed the purple glow in his waving fist and his friends could feel their hearts stop.

“You want the crystal, right?!” Sora shouted, obvious to his friends’ horrified faces.

“Sora, drop it!” Mickey shouted in hopes that it wasn’t too late.

“It’ll kill-!” Kairi couldn’t even finish her sentence when the Wendigo dropped them all, leaving them to fall on the floor with small screams. However, the Wendigo paid them no mind as it begins to make its way over to Sora, eyeing the glow in his hand very intently.

“Well, if you want it so badly; go get it!” Sora threw the object he had to a far corner of the cave. The Wendigo didn’t waste time going over to where the object landed. Seeing that it was distracted, Sora quickly ran over to his fallen friends.

“Are you insane?!” Donald demanded once the boy reached them.

“Why aren’t you writhing around in pain?!” Anna asks when she noticed that Sora looked completely fine. “Or acting like something that was basically your arm was just ripped off?! I thought that crystal was supposed to kill you if you touch it!”

It was then Riku noticed that Sora had taken his hat off and was now gripping it in his hand. He was confused for a moment before he noticed the purple glow and it instantly clicked. “You threw the Wendigo a decoy, didn’t you?”

His words caught everyone’s attention and they turn to the brunette with shocked looks in their eyes. The boy just gave his signature smile as he holds up the hat for them to see the purple glow.

“Trust me guys, I’d learned my lesson the first time,” he laughs at their expressions.

“You’re crazier than I am,” Anna remarks as she takes the Lavender Crystal out from the wool hat. “And wow, you have a lot of hair!”

The smile instantly became a frown when Sora heard that. “Why does everyone always say that when I can barely even see my hair without a mirror?!”

“Guys?” the others look over to see Kristoff, Elsa, and Olaf slowly edging their way towards the entrance as they gazed at something over their shoulders with nervous looks. “I hate to cut your conversation short, but there’s an angry Wendigo right behind you!”

This immediately makes the seven turn to where the Wendigo had gone off to see the creature glaring at them from over its shoulder. In its hand was the decoy Sora made out of the broken purple pieces of the amber that was held together by a piece of elastic. It crushed the decoy with two fingers, leaving only dust to fall.

Everyone immediately begins to make a break for the exit. Loud thumps behind them told them that the Wendigo was already chasing them and was slowly gaining on them. In an effort to slow it down, Donald kept firing Firaga spells at it. They seem to do their job well as the Wendigo kept flinching whenever the flames made contact.

Once everyone was out, Elsa conjured up an ice wall at the entrance. The Wendigo ended up crashing face-first into the wall since it was still dazed from all the Firaga spells. Before it could regain its sense so it could smash the wall to pieces, Riku pointed his Keyblade at the wall before a light shot out.

Locks and chains appeared around the wall. When the Wendigo tried to break the icy barrier with its fists, the wall stood in place. The Wendigo roared in frustration.

“That’ll hold ‘em for a little,” Riku said as he dismisses his Keyblade.

“Aha!” Anna cheers as she shakes the hand that’s holding the crystal in front of the frustrated Wendigo. “We got the crystal! Take that, you skeletal billy goat!”

The Wendigo shrieked again. It wasn’t as loud as it was before due to the ice wall slightly muffling it. But it was loud enough to make them all flinch.

“Let’s not antagonize the Wendigo more than we already have,” Kristoff tells Anna as he gently guides her away from the entrance. Everyone was quick to follow since they didn’t want to keep looking at the Wendigo’s ferocious eyes glaring at them through the ice.

“So, how do we know this crystal even works?” Anna asks once they were a ways away from the entrance and back on the dangerous path that will lead them back to Sven and the sleigh.

“Trust me, it works,” Sora spoke up, recalling the painful sensation he felt when his fingers nearly touched the crystal. “I barely even touched it and it still felt like it was trying to rip my heart out from my body.”

“You mean you nearly touched it?!” Donald said in shock while the rest of his friends turned their head sharply when they realized what the brunette just said.

“I didn’t know it landed so close to me, alright!” the spiky-haired boy said defensively.

“Okay, I’ll take Sora’s word for it!” Anna cut in before the duck could explode at the teen. Then, her eyes took on a maniacal gleam that the foreign travelers took notice of. “Ooh, I can’t wait to see the look on Han’s face when we show up and take away his powers. Then I’m gonna punch him right in the-!”

“Anna, you’re freaking them out!” the young woman stops her rant when her boyfriend said that, looking at him in confusion before she turns to where his finger was pointing. There she sees the Keyblade wielders and the two animals huddle up against the rocky wall, staring at her with weary eyes. Goofy even had his shield out.

“Oh! Sorry,” she apologized. “Like I said, major issues between me and my ex.”

“Duly noted,” Riku deadpanned as he and his friends relax when they see Anna had calmed down from her little episode.

“Let’s just get back to sleigh before something worse happens,” Elsa said and everyone agreed. Soon, they found themselves carefully moving along the small narrow space that will lead them back to their ride off this crazy mountain.

The wind in the area slowly began to blow a little stronger than it did before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wendigos are probably one of my favorite Mythological Horror creatures, even though the mostly-human ones are terrifying and keep me up at night. I just had to put in here with all the mountains and the winter going on in this story. If anyone wants to know, Wendigos hate fire because it burns off their armor skin and can kill them, so that's why the Wendigo reacted more to the Firaga spells than anything else.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the story and please leave a comment!


	8. The Storm and the Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just when they thought everything was going to plan, a storm blew in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was shorter than the last one so that meant I was able to update this faster. But I still hope everyone enjoys it anyway! Oh, we're getting so close to the idea I've been dying to write about!

Hans was, at the moment, content with everything that’s been happening so far. Sure, he was forced to freeze a few people who tried to stand in his way but everything was falling into place. He was finally sitting on a throne to call his own and getting back at the people who humiliated him.

The only things that still stood in his way were the sisters and that mountain man. Since their little escapade back at the courtyard, he had ordered every guard that was loyal to him and the heartless to find them and bring them back. So far, they had searched every part of the woods in the surrounding area but the search was unsuccessful. That was the only reason why he wasn’t happy but just content.

Why do those two always have to ruin everything for him?

“Hey, now, what’s with the long face?” Hans bit back a groan when he saw the familiar creature that helped him get this far walking up to him on his throne. “You just got your dream kingdom, almost everyone around here listens to ya, and those sisters are off who knows where. You should be happy!”

“And that’s the problem,” he states in a bland voice he would always use when dealing with this Pete. “Those two are still out there and as long as they remain alive I will never officially claim Arendelle as my own.”

“Those search parties still found nothing?” Pete asked as Hans stood up. The man nodded before he began to pace from one side of the room to the other.

“Apparently, they’ve fled farther than I thought they would from their kingdom. I have no idea where they are or what they’re planning. And if I have no idea what they’re planning, it means they’re more of a threat to me and my reign!”

“Well, if you’re that worried about them then why don’t use that mirror to find them?” Pete suggested.

His words made Hans freeze from his pacing. Slowly, he turned to Pete with a controlled expression on his face. “What did you just say?”

“The mirror? Ya didn’t know that mirror can help you find the people you hate most?” Pete questioned him like it was a common fact. Then he frowned. “Well, I think that’s what Mick said…”

Hans slowly makes his way over to the cat, keeping his expression as calm as possible. “No, I was not told that the mirror could help me track down my enemies before they could be a real threat against me.”

Pete shifts his eyes nervously, not liking the look the human was giving him. “Well, now ya know…” he pointed out hesitantly.

“Yes,” thankfully, Hans moved away from Pete in favor of grabbing the mirror from his coat. This makes Pete sigh in relief. Geez, why couldn’t Maleficent do this instead of him?

“Show me the ones that I seek to destroy,” Hans speak to the mirror, not exactly sure what to do but still wants the results all the same. For a moment, nothing had happened and he was ready to snap at the cat for wasting his time, the frost on the mirror begins to move on its own.

Hans watches in fascination as the frost swirls along the reflective surface in a spiral motion before it moved to the mirror’s edges. There, in what was previously his reflection, were the two sisters who have caused him nothing but trouble. They appeared to be carefully maneuvering along a narrow path on a mountain. The mountain man was there, along with that freaky snowman of theirs.

But he didn’t recognize the teenagers that were with them. Nor the three walking animals that were almost similar to Pete.

“What?!” speak of the devil. “Those punks are here too?!”

“You know them?” Hans asked.

“Of course I know them! Why those Keyblade wielders have been causing me nothing but trouble! Especially that mouse and the little runt…”

Hans looks back at the mirror, watching the group of people trying to stay on the path in front of them without accidentally stumbling. Looking at it from where he was standing, it does look pretty dangerous to cross with that little room but it seems to be the only path they could go on.

A smirk appeared on his face when an idea came to mind. “Well, if they’re such nuisances then why don’t we get rid of them?”

Pete looks at him in confusion but Hans paid the cat little attention as he stares into moving picture of Anna and Elsa. He gripped the mirror tightly as he thought about his life being ruined when these sisters appeared in his life, how he was practically disowned by everyone at home and was left with nothing because of them.

The frost slowly begins to spread across the reflective surface as it once did.

* * *

“Trust me, if you guys met Hans, you’ll understand why it would be very therapeutic for me to punch him,” Anna tells the foreign travelers over the harsh winds.

“We’ll keep that in mind!” Kairi shouted. Although she has yet to meet anyone that could match Anna’s description of this Hans, Kairi can understand the need to get revenge on a guy who wronged her. Goodness did she felt good for all the times she chased Lea with her Keyblade for kidnapping her.

“Hey, guys,” Olaf speaks up from his place on Riku’s shoulder so he doesn’t fly off due to the wind. “Is it just me or is the way back longer than the way forward?”

“That’s because we’ve been going slow, Olaf,” Kristoff answered. “With the rate this wind is going, we’ll probably be blown off if we decide to move fast.”

Everyone couldn’t help but agree with the mountain man’s statement. Ever since they came out of the cave the wind began to blow more than just a mountain breeze in their faces. It became the type of wind that was cold and strong enough to sting their skin and eyes - unless if someone was wearing eye protection like the teenagers, then they’re fine - and blow against them in every direction.

It would make sense to walk slow in these harsh winds. However, these winds slowly grew more powerful with each passing second. It forced them to stop and gripped the wall they were leaning against to hold them all together against the force that was pushing them.

“This is ridiculous!” Donald cries over the raging gale. “The storm wasn’t this bad!”

“Maybe it has something to do with that storm cloud over there!” Goofy pointed off to the right, where they originally saw the valley of clouds when they first arrived at the mountain.

His words caught everyone’s attention before they turned to see where Goofy was pointing. Originally, the clouds they saw were only a couple of yards from where they stood but now the clouds had towered over them like an ominous giant. Uneasiness begins to form in everyone when they saw the stormy gray color that stood in place of the clouds’ original white.

“Guys…” Kairi reached out and grabbed Sora and Riku’s hands as she eyed the clouds with trepidation.

“I think Hans found us…” Kristoff said right before the winds grew stronger. Everyone screams in shock as the bitter coldness took a strike at them. They huddled together against the walls, hoping to keep warm and not fly off the mountain.

“What do we do?!” Riku screamed so he could be heard as he wrapped his arms around his two friends. “We can’t fight like this!”

Anna took the chance to open her eyes after previously closing them in order to avoid the cold, looking for a way to stop this storm. Her eyes caught the purple glow she had in her mitten-covered hands. After adjusting her hand so the object doesn’t get blown away, Anna slowly opened her fingers to gaze at the Lavender Crystal.

To her surprise, some of the snow that was blowing all around them was being absorbed by the crystal. Like the snow was literally dragging itself towards the crystal and disappearing once it touched the glowing surface.

An idea came to mind. “Hey, I still have the crystal! Maybe I can use this against the storm!”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Anna?” Elsa asked while she kept her arms up to avoid the wind from getting into her eyes.

“I mean, it’s a crazy idea but it could work!” Kristoff agreed. It makes sense for the crystal to be able to absorb the storm they were in since it was caused by magic.

“But this storm is just a loose connection to Skadi’s Mirror, Anna,” Mickey shouted. “We don’t even know if using the crystal might be enough to get rid of it all!”

“Well, I have to try! Or all of us are going to be blown off this mountain!” Gathering her courage, Anna manages to peel herself off from the wall she was huddling against. She nearly lost her balance when the wind grew stronger but was able to regain her footing.

There she stood, dangerously close to the ledge that could possibly lead her to her doom. She looks down at the crystal in her hand, watching the snow get dragged into the crystal whenever it would fly so close before looking back at the storm.

With a deep breath, she held the hand holding the crystal out to the storm.

At once, the winds died down and the raging clouds had stopped moving. Before Anna could react, clouds and snow began to drag themselves towards the glowing crystal and disappearing on contact. A bubble of laughter manages to escape her chest as she loses her stiff stance.

“I-It’s working!” she turns to the others, who have now remove themselves from the wall and taking a few steps closer now that the wind was gone. “It’s working!” Anna laughs as she turns back to face the disappearing clouds. “Take that, Hans! Not so big and bad now, are ya?!”

Maybe she shouldn’t have said that.

More dark clouds formed alongside the ones that were disappearing after Anna finished her statement. Before she knew it, both snow and wind began to blow hard against her. She didn’t even have time to prepare herself since it all came on so suddenly and now she could feel her body slowly lifting off from the ground beneath her feet.

Anna’s first reaction was to flail her arms so she can regain her balance. But, in the process, her grip on the crystal became loose.

She didn’t even realize she had let go of the crystal until she heard Mickey yell, “The crystal!”

Anna looks at her hand and her breath got caught in her throat when she realizes she wasn’t holding the crystal anymore. She looks down and dread began to creep through her veins when she sees the Lavender Crystal fall down into thick clouds below.

They had just lost their only weapon against Hans’s mirror.

But Anna did not dwell on it for long when the winds blew once again and she was back to flailing her arms so she can regain her balance.

“Anna!” she hears someone - probably Elsa - yell from behind her. Before she knew it, three pairs of hands grab onto her and are pushing her into the waiting arms of Elsa and Kristoff. She looks back to see Sora, Riku, and Kairi standing on the edge she was previously on, Olaf still holding onto the elder’s shoulder.

Then the wind blew and Anna could only watch in horror as the four were sent flying off the edge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought about adding more to this chapter but I decided to be cruel and leave you guys in a cliffhanger.
> 
> WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF THE DARK ONE!
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! :)


	9. Separate Paths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Destiny Trio and Olaf are separated from their friends. As they try to find their way back to them, things are tense between Donald and Anna.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I had something to say originally...
> 
> BUT DID ANYONE SEE THE TEASER TRAILER FOR FROZEN II?!
> 
> I have no idea what this story is going to be like but I'm loving it so far and I can't wait to see it!

“Sora!”

“Fellas!”

The three walking animals immediately ran over to where their friends were previously standing. They look over the ledge to see four figures disappearing into the clouds below, their screams echoing through the air.

They could still hear their screams as the raging storm around them died.

“They’re…” Goofy’s voice trails off, almost afraid to finish the sentence. “T-They’re gone…”

His words sunk weight onto the three as they lean back and sat right there, their eyes never leaving the area where they just watched their friends fell to their possible doom. Everything inside them felt numb as the screams continue to echo in their ears.

It was barely a second a later that Kristoff slowly came up behind them, unsure if he should pat Goofy on the shoulder but eventually decided not to.

“Look, maybe they’re alright,” he tries to comfort the grief-stricken animals. “I get that it was a long fall but the storm just blew in some more snow. So, there’s probably about a hundred feet of fresh powder down the mountain. If they’re lucky, it would be like landing on a pillow for them.”

Neither of the animals said anything in response.

“And besides, Olaf fell with them and he’s a snowman. He’ll survive the fall and do his best to make sure those kids come back to you guys.”

Still nothing. Kristoff was beginning to wonder if they were even listening to him.

Then again, if Sven was the one who fell from this gigantic mountain and he couldn’t see where his best friend landed, dead or alive, he would probably shut everything out too.

* * *

Sora didn’t know how long he was falling since the wind blew him off the ledge and down into the sea of clouds where he could see nothing but white fluff. He could vaguely make out the screams of Kairi, Riku and someone else - Olaf was still holding onto Riku’s shoulder, right? - through the wind rushing around him.

He eventually stopped flailing his arms around and decided to brace himself by tucking his limbs close. Please, just let him and his friends survive this with only a few broken limbs.

The fall did stop at one point. However, Sora was not in any excruciating pain like he expected to be. In fact, everything seemed to be perfectly fine.

He slowly opened his eyes - he closed them when he braced for impact - to see what was going on and found himself buried from the waist down in the snow.

Oh, that’s why he wasn’t in any pain.

“Well, looks like those teachers were right about snow being as soft as a pillow,” Sora laughs a little as he thought about those sour faces explaining what snow is to him back in school. When no one replied, he quickly snapped his head in every direction in order to find any sign of pink or yellow and dark blue.

“R-Riku?! Kairi?!”

Right on cue, the snow on his left exploded. Once the small flurries had cleared, he could see a snow-covered Kairi coughing sitting right next to him. “W-Well, that was a dive if someone could even call it that,” she mutters hoarsely as she rubs the snow out of her goggles.

Sora felt relieved when he saw one of his best friends and even found himself laughing a little at her comment and appearance. Even with her earmuffs on, Kairi’s hair almost looks as crazy as his.

But the moment was ruined when he realized they were missing one more. “Where’s Riku?”

The snow next to Kairi explodes and a growling Riku sat up, startling the two.

“If I ever meet this Hans guy, I’m going to punch him in the face!” the silver-haired teen snarled as he whipped his goggles off to reveal the fury in his teal eyes.

“Good to know,” Kairi commented weakly. She knew better than to say anything more when Riku gets cold and becomes this mad about it.

Deep, heavy panting caught their attention and the three turned their eyes forward to see what the commotion was all about. They found Olaf lying on his back a few feet away from them, his body just an inch away from this large boulder.

Not understanding why the little snowman was freaking out, Kairi hesitantly called out to him. “O-Olaf?”

“GUYS!” Olaf’s head snapped towards them, his eyes were wide with pure panic. “Help! My arm is trapped underneath this boulder and I can’t feel it! My whole arm has become numb!”

They were expecting a lot of things. But that wasn’t any of those things.

“What?!” Sora cried out. He immediately began to try and pull himself out of the snow - which wasn’t going very well, how deep is this snow?! - while Kairi began to stand up, often losing her balance since the fresh snow would often collapse underneath her weight.

Riku was in the process of trying to stand up when his eyes land on something dark in the white snow right next to him. Curiously, he reached down and grabbed the object, bringing it out of the snow so he could examine it. Upon realizing what it was, the worried look in his eyes fell.

“Olaf, your arm is not getting crushed,” his words manages to stop his friends from panicking and catches Olaf’s attention.

“‘Not getting crushed?!’” the snowman cried in outrage. “Do you not see my arm pinned underneath this rock?! I know you hate the cold and all that, but at least have sympathy for the snow-!”

Olaf stops his rant when Riku wordlessly lifts his hand up to reveal the object he was holding. It was Olaf’s twig arm.

The snowman looks back down at the place where he previously believed his arm was getting crushed. Using his free arm, Olaf lifts himself up from where he was lying and was surprised at how easy it was.

“Oh,” he mumbles when he realizes. “I guess I my arm wasn’t crushed after all… Thanks, Riku! Can I have my arm back now?”

Riku didn’t even get a chance to answer when the arm itself wretched itself out of his grasps, starling the boy before it began to crawl towards the smiling snowman. Once it was close enough, Olaf grabbed the arm and put it back in its rightful place.

“There! Now I’m perfect!” he waved the arm at the stunned teenagers, who hesitantly waved back.

“We should be used to all of this by now,” Kairi whispers in a low voice so only the boys could hear. The two nodded in agreement.

Once they were over that, the three resumed to getting themselves out of the snow mount they landed on. After a few attempts, Kairi and Riku were able to stand up without any problems. Sora, on the other hand, was a different story.

“How. Deep. Is. This?!” the boy grunted as he continued to push against the snow to levitate his body up. But no matter what he does, he’s still in the same position he was in when he landed.

Laughing at his friend’s predicament, Riku walks over and grabs Sora’s hand. “Here,” with a grunt, Riku manages to heave Sora out of the snow mount.

“Thanks,” the younger boy mumbled before he went to brush the snow off his pants.

Kairi glanced up to where they had fallen from and whistled at the sight. “That was a pretty long fall…”

Sora looked up and couldn’t help but agree. While he knew the mountain was big he didn’t expect it to go past the normal clouds. There was also the fact that he and the others weren’t even at the bottom of the mountain but, instead, in an underground cave and he was staring at the mountain through the large hole they fell through.

“Do you think the others know where we are?” he asked as he turned to the others, who were also staring at the gaping hole.

“We fell from a thousand-foot mountain, Sora,” Riku deadpanned. “Even if they figured out where we are, they’ll have to climb all the way down to find us.”

“Why don’t we just climb up and meet them halfway?” Olaf asked, his tone making it sound like he just solved their whole problem.

Riku shot the snowman a look. “Do you not see how steep these walls are? Even me and Sora can’t climb these.”

“Then we’ll just find another way out,” Olaf countered easily. “Besides, all caves have an exit. I learned that from Kristoff.”

“He’s got a point, Riku,” Kairi said. “And besides, if that storm was really caused by Hans then that means he knows where the others are. We need to get back to them as quick as we can before Hans does.”

Although he was reluctant to take advice from a snowman - who reminds him of a four-year-old Sora, scary enough -, Riku relented. “Fine. We’ll look for another way out.”

His words made Olaf jump up in excitement. “Yay! We’re all going on a nice little walk!”

“Going on a walk after falling from a thousand feet is not something I would call nice.”

But Olaf paid the silver-haired teen no more attention as he walked towards a path that he found, happily humming with each stride. Laughing slightly at the snowman’s antics, Sora didn’t hesitate to follow him. Riku and Kairi quickly trailed after the two. 

* * *

It took a while but the royal sisters and the mountain man managed to snap the stunned animals out of their stupor.

But now they have to deal with an angry duck as they make their way back to the sleigh.

“If you hadn’t got cocky then they wouldn’t have fallen off and we wouldn’t have lost the crystal!” Donald quacked furiously at the strawberry blonde woman as they reached the sleight and were met with a confused Sven, who was looking at the angry duck warily.

Anna sighs. While she understands Donald’s need to lash out at something - even she blames herself for what happened, for Pete’s sake - it was getting annoying to just hear this loud, raspy voice yelling in her ear over and over again. She whirls around to face the duck, trying to keep herself as calm as possible.

“Alright, I shouldn’t have lost my temper with Hans,” she begins. “And I should’ve had a better grip on the crystal. But that doesn’t mean things are over or your friends are gone. I’m sure they survived the fall and probably looking for all of us right-”

“It was a thousand-foot drop!” Donald interrupted her. “The odds of them landing alive is unlikely and landing without any broken bones are slim to none! And that wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t so busy squabbling with your ex!”

Anna’s face turned red as she finally lost her patience with the duck. “He emotionally manipulated me, alright?!” she cried. “How would you feel if you gave someone your whole heart but then stomp all over it and just leave you to die a painful death?”

Donald opened his beak to say something back but didn’t get the chance to since Goofy had stepped in to get in-between the two.

“Now, fellas, let’s not fight. I’m sure the others wouldn’t want that,” Goofy tried to calm the two down. Anna and Donald shot each other dirty looks before looking away with a huff. It makes the others sigh but were glad that any further arguments were avoided.

“Okay, we all need a new plan,” Kristoff says as he begins to ready the sleigh for the next ride. “We don’t have anything that can counteract Hans’s mirror and we just lost some of our best fighters. Anyone got any ideas on what we should do?”

“Maybe we can start looking for the others?” Mickey suggested as he rubbed Donald’s shoulder to calm the duck down. “If we’re all together, then we can come up with a plan to defeat Hans.”

“But where can we even begin to look?” Elsa questioned. “That storm could have blown them anywhere.”

“Maybe they’re in the underground caves at the bottom of the mountain,” Kristoff said in Sven's voice before he looked at the reindeer with a shocked expression.

This revelation caught the others’ attention, even Anna and Donald had stopped glaring to look. “Underground caves?” Elsa asked.

“Yep!” the reindeer nodded. “There’s a system of paths underneath this mountain that you can only enter through the holes on the ground. If they’re lucky enough, they could have landed in one of those holes.”

“Why didn’t you say anything sooner?!” Donald demanded as he marched up to the startled mountain man.

“W-Wait, why are you getting mad at me? Sven was the one who didn’t mention it until now!” Kristoff pointed a finger at the reindeer, who looked at him with a look of betrayal.

“You were the one who said it, you-!” Donald cut himself off in favor of preparing to hit Kristoff with his staff. Thankfully, he was held back by Goofy.

“Okay! Okay!” Elsa quickly stepped in. “Let’s just get on the sleigh and head down to the caves where we will try not to kill each other on the way, alright?”

Donald shot the mountain man one more dirty look before he finally relaxed. And with that, it made the citizens of Arendelle relax as well.

They couldn’t help but wonder how those kids were able to handle that duck.

* * *

“Wow,” Olaf said after Riku finished his reasons for hating the cold season. “Can’t say I don’t blame you for not liking the cold. I wonder if I can get this frostbite too?”

“Let’s not find out,” Kairi quickly said. Sure, he might not get their equivalent of frostbite but she would rather not see the innocent snowman do any attempts on finding out if he does. If Riku could get frostbite by just being wet and having ice cubes down his shirt, she would hate to see how Olaf could.

The four were still following the path Olaf had found but it felt like they weren’t getting anywhere. All they saw ahead of them was the snow-covered path and the narrowed walls that look like they were covered in ice. To past the time, the three islanders began to tell the snowman stories about their lives on a tropical island.

Apparently, they didn’t know what to think of a snowman liking summer but decided to just roll along with it.

“So, is there any fun islander activities you guys can tell me?” the snowman asked once he got over his brainstorm on frostbite. “I’m sure you guys have something in mind.”

“You mean other than swimming, sword fights, and racing, there really isn’t much to talk about,” Riku said with a small shrug.

“That’s not true,” Sora argued. “Remember that time we went sledding?”

“You guys were able to sled without any snow?” Olaf asked before Riku or Kairi could say anything.

Riku snorts. “If you call Sora finding a broken piece of wood big enough for the three of us to sit on and sliding down sand dune sledding, then yeah.”

“Sora ended up flying off and getting his head stuck in the sand when we landed,” Kairi laughed a little at the memory of little Sora trying to get his head out.

Sora shot her a look. “I didn’t see the bump, okay? Besides, we still had fun. Didn’t we?”

“Yeah, but only when you fell off and got yourself stuck in the sand!” at this, Riku and Kairi broke into a fit of laughter as they recalled the memory. Even Olaf found himself laughing with them despite not knowing the full details himself. Sora could only glare at them as his lips form a pout.

He had just wanted the three of them to experience a winter wonderland in some way and the takeaway those two have was him getting his head stuck.

Thankfully, they had walked right into an open space so it diverted everyone’s attention away from that moment in time. There was no other pathway for them to go, which meant that this was a dead end. But then they looked up and saw light emerging from a hole in the ceiling.

“Do you think that’s our way out?” Kairi asked. She couldn’t exactly see anything past the light so she was unable to tell if there’s any snow-covered vegetation out there.

“That, or it leads us to another cave,” Riku pointed out. “Guess we’ll just have to climb up and find out.”

“Oh! Oh! Oh!” Olaf quickly spoke up before the three could head over to the wall. “I have an idea on how we can figure out where that hole goes without climbing!”

The friends shot each other looks before turning back to the excitement snowman. “Well, what do you have in mind, Olaf?”

To be honest, the three weren’t prepared for the snowman to take his head off and throw it up at the hole.

Then again, they had to applaud him for nearly reaching the hole since it was so high up. But the force he used wasn’t enough to get him all the way up, so the head ended up falling back into the awaiting twig arms.

He tried it again but he didn’t get any higher. It still didn’t stop him from trying, though.

After a few failed attempts, Riku finally decided to speak up. “Uh, do you need some help?”

“No, hang on,” Olaf once again tries to throw himself up but still failed to reach the hole. “I think I almost got it!”

He threw his head and still didn’t get any higher.

It was almost sad.

“How about I just throw your head up instead?” Riku suggested. This makes Olaf stop in mid-throw to turn and face the older teen.

“Well, see, I would have given you my head a while ago. But then you called it a decapitation so I’m gonna have to say no on that,” the snowman stated simply, his voice surprisingly serious in contrast to his regular cheerful one.

It took a few seconds for Riku to fully understand what Olaf just said since he wasn’t prepared for the tone of his voice. “Excuse me?”

“You heard what I said.”

“You’re not letting me hold your head because I said it was decapitated?”

“I just consider it rude because my head was never chopped off by a sharp weapon.”

Riku could only stare at the snowman with a dumbfounded look. He’s used to people getting offended by some the things he said - most of those people were actually Sora and Donald - but the thing was he understood why some of the things he said might insult other people and would often try to keep it to a minimal teasing.

He failed to see how calling Olaf’s head a decapitation was an insult.

Meanwhile, Sora and Kairi were silently laughing at the expression on their friend’s face. While they didn’t understand Olaf’s logic either it was funny to see Riku look so speechless.

After calming down, Sora took a step towards Olaf. “How about me? Can I throw your head up?”

“Sure, Sora!” just like that, Olaf’s mood had turned a 180 as the snowman happily placed his head in Sora’s hands.

“... I really should stop questioning everything,” Riku finally decided as Sora prepares himself to throw Olaf’s head up into the opening.

With a grunt, Sora threw his arm forward and the head went sailing towards the hole. To their immense relief, the head was able to make it through as the three watched it disappear into the light.

“Hey, I can see trees!” Olaf manages to get out before his head came falling back down into Sora’s awaiting arms. “I saw trees! Which means that’s our way out!”

“That’s great, Olaf!” Kairi said as she and her friends smile at each other. Finally, they can get out of this freezing cave and find the others.

“By the way, did you think you guys can carry me on the way up?” Olaf suddenly asked.

The three stared at him in confusion. “Uh, why do we need to carry you?” Riku asked.

“Because I don't know how to climb.”

* * *

The ride down the mountain was silent between the occupants in the sleigh. Even Sven could feel the tension from the others and decided to keep his attention forward. Kristoff was shifting his eyes from Anna to Donald, knowing that those two were the source of all this awkwardness.

Honestly, he could understand why both parties were angry at each other; Donald wanted to lash at someone after losing his friends and Anna was the closest person around while Anna was trying to handle the reappearance of Hans and having a duck yelling in her ear wasn’t exactly helping. But while he understood their reasons, the awkwardness was getting out of hand.

Even that friendly dog was uncomfortable by all of this.

“You know, sooner or later, you two are going have to talk when we find the others, right?” he questioned the two sulking people. All he got in response was a grumble from the duck and a disinterested scoff from Anna.

“Donald, come on,” Goofy spoke up. “You know Sora and the others would want you to apologize.”

“I’ll apologize when moose start to fly!” Donald quacked.

Anna let out a little sarcastic laugh. “Why are you saying that? Did a moose found a way to fly when you couldn’t?”

“You be quiet!”

“No thank you!”

“I can zap you, you know!”

“And people eat your kind! Better hope that I don’t find a meat cutter out here!”

“Why you-!”

“ENOUGH!” Elsa and Mickey shouted in unison, effectively shutting the two up. Satisfied that the two had stopped arguing to pay attention, Elsa said, “Now that you two are done, how about we all just-”

Whatever Elsa was about to say was cut off when the sleigh suddenly lurched to the side. Everyone immediately screamed at the sudden force before they held onto the sleigh to avoid falling off. It proved to be useless, however, when the sleigh lurched again before it was finally tipped to the side.

Because of the sleigh’s speed, the occupants went sent flying out of their ride. Sven was still strapped to the sleigh so Kristoff could only watch as his friend get carted off by the out-of-control vehicle.

Good news, they all landed on the soft snow to avoid any injuries. Bad news, Donald landed head-first in the snow pile that cushioned his fall.

The duck snaps his head out and growls. “Hey! What’s the big idea?!”

The sounds of a reindeer calling for help immediately got Kristoff to stand up from his lying position. “Sven!” he looks over to see his best friend being dragged down the mountain by the sleigh. Not wasting any time, Kristoff ran after his friend.

Meanwhile, the others were able to take a good look at the sleigh as it makes its descent. What they saw made the uneasiness inside them grow.

“Elsa, are the runners covered in…?” Anna trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence.

“Ice,” her sister finished for her, thankfully.

“B-But I don’t understand,” Mickey spoke up. “How could ice cover the runners like that?”

Before anyone could answer the mouse, a voice that filled the two sisters with dread spoke up.

“So this is where you two have been hiding.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there's anyone wondering how the Destiny Trio were able to survive a thousand-foot drop, blame cartoon physics.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	10. Battle in the Blizzard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An encounter with Hans has forced everyone into a battlefield where they're at a clear disadvantage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vacation week! And the only time I was able to finish this chapter was on Friday, which is only two days before vacation is over. I'm disappointed in myself.
> 
> Then again, I guess that's what happens when you decide to do digital art over the week instead of writing.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter! Or maybe not, we'll see.

Elsa and Anna could feel their minds shutting down the moment they heard that voice. They didn’t want to turn around. They were afraid to turn around. If they turned around then that would mean facing their enemy with no power over him and acknowledging that he had sunk so low to throw three kids off a mountain.

However, the three animals had no problem turning around to face the voice. What they saw was a man with auburn hair and sideburns, holding what appears to be a mirror, a dozen of Heartless surrounding him. While they didn’t recognize the man, they did recognize the person standing right next to him.

“Pete!” the three shouted. The gigantic cat laughed at their surprised faces.

“What are you doing here, Pete,” Mickey demanded.

“What? Aren’t you a little curious how princely boy got the mirror in the first place?” Pete taunted. Hans shot him a glare.

“Don’t call me that,” he turns his attention back to the stunned sisters, who have finally found the courage to face him. “So tell me, what was it that you two were so desperate to find that it led you all the way out here and seeking their help,” he gestures towards the three. “Just speaking from experience.”

“Hey,” Pete whined but Hans paid him no mind.

“What makes you think we’ll tell you?” Elsa demanded.

“And besides, we don’t even have the secret mission thingy we were trying to find!” Anna piped up, now gaining more confidence.

“Because  _ somebody _ dropped it off a mountain,” Donald grumbles quietly underneath his breath.

But it wasn’t quite enough since Anna had turned to glare at him. “Oh, you be quiet, you-!”

“Anna, enough!” Elsa whispered harshly at her sister, effectively shutting her up before turning back to Hans. “The point is, Hans, we have nothing to hold against you. Looks like you just wasted your time coming all the way out here.”

“Oh, the contrary,” a sly smile formed on the man’s face. “My time coming out here wasn’t wasted at all. In fact, I think I found exactly what I was looking for.”

Elsa could sense the three animals slowly coming next to her and Anna, possibly getting ready to defend them due to the tone of Hans’s voice. She still kept her eyes on Hans in order to keep his attention away from them.

“And what exactly did you find?” she asked.

A dark glow appears in his eyes as Hans holds up the mirror, which began to glow. “Your deaths…”

Elsa didn’t have time to react when the icy-blue glow surrounding the mirror exploded, blasting a ton of wind and snow blowing in her face at a hundred miles per hour. Still holding onto her sister’s arm, Elsa slowly tried to pry her eyes open, only to be met with nothing but a blazing white view.

Hans had just thrown them into another blizzard. 

* * *

Sora really did like Olaf. The little guy reminded him of the time he, Riku, and Kairi were little kids back on the Islands. The time where they didn’t have a care about the world and just wanted to have some fun. He honestly saw a bit of himself in the snowman right before he was thrown into this big adventure across worlds.

But no matter what warm thoughts he had for him it still didn’t change the fact that Olaf was  _ heavy _ . For goodness sake, has snow always weigh this much?

Since they couldn’t exactly climb up the wall with Olaf in their arms they decided to compromise by tying the snowman onto one of their backs so they could carry him like a backpack. Riku had volunteered to carry the little guy but Olaf refused the offer due to Riku’s earlier comment once again. As the silver-haired fumbled with the snowman’s logic, Sora decided to ask Olaf if he wanted to ride on is back.

Just like that, the snowman said yes.

And that was how Sora found himself climbing up the rocky wall with Olaf tied to him. Normally, years of climbing palm trees at the Island would make this pretty easy but the added weight on his back made it a lot slower than it was supposed to be.

“Wow, you know, I never really noticed how high the exit was from the ground,” Olaf remarked from his place on Sora’s back.

“Good to know, Olaf,” Sora grunted as he heaved himself up to another rock.

Thankfully, the climb to the exit wasn’t as long as he thought since he could see Kairi and Riku already heaving themselves up over the snowy ledge. Once he got close enough, the two reached down and heaved him up.

The three sat there in the snow, panting.

“That was a climb,” Kairi remarked once she caught her breath.

“You know something, it really wasn’t all that bad,” Olaf said, making the three look at him.

The Islanders didn’t have the heart to point out that he didn’t climb at all.

After untying the snowman from his back, Sora stood up along with Riku and Kairi to dust the snow off their clothes. Honestly, the three never realized how similar snow was to sand when it comes to sticking onto clothes.

“So, we just head up the mountain and hope we’ll run into the others?” Kairi asked. Meanwhile, Olaf was wandering a few feet away from the Islanders before stopping when something caught his eye.

“That’s the idea,” Riku said.

“Maybe they’re inside that unnatural and possibly dangerous looking blizzard over there,” Olaf suddenly said as he points to something off in the distance.

His words caught the three’s attention and the turn to him with confusion written across their faces. Blizzard? There was no wind in the area, no snow flying in their faces, and the temperature hasn't gone down more than it already has. Why would Olaf say there was a blizzard nearby?

Then the noticed him pointing to something off in the distance so they look over to see what was going on. When their eyes caught sight of what Olaf was looking at they finally believed him about the blizzard.

Near a very high ledge was a mass of white clouds and snow swirling in the air like a typhoon. They didn’t realize it before since they weren’t paying attention but they could feel the powerful magic, like the one that blew them off the mountain, radiating from that storm. Before they could have time to fully process the blizzard and how it got there, a burst of fire sprouted out of the white like a gas leak in a pipe.

“Oh, I’ve never seen a blizzard breathe fire before!” Olaf said in amazement but his tone didn’t match the Islanders’ faces, which were overtaken with worry. Sora had seen those flames shot out by a certain duck’s staff so many times it became easy to memorize the way the fire would move in certain directions with the wind. And while Riku and Kairi haven’t fought with Donald as much as Sora has, they knew there must be some reason why there was a fire spell in this sort of weather.

Without wasting a second, the three summoned their Keyblades before they rushed off to the blizzard, leaving a startled Olaf behind.

“Hey, wait!” the snowman quickly ran after them. “Where are you guys going?!”

“To that blizzard!” Kairi answered. “That’s probably where the others are!”

“Keep up, Olaf!” Sora called back as the three kept their fast pace up the hill.

“I’m trying!” Curse these short legs! “Slow down, you three!” 

* * *

The moment the whole area was hit by the blizzard, the Heartless began to attack once they were stunned. Although the three took a few hits since they were stunned by the sudden drop in temperature and the harsh winds, it didn’t take long for them to fight back. Both Mickey and Goofy charged forward with their weapons in hand whenever they saw a flash of yellow eyes in the surrounding white while Donald shot out fire spells whenever he can.

As the three fought off the Heartless, the sisters were busy trying to navigate through the storm. Well, Anna was really the one who’s trying to move through the storm. Elsa was a few feet behind her, slowly trying to catch up.

“Anna, wait!” she called. “What are you doing?!”

“Going to punch Hans, where else?” she replied as her eyes scan through the world of white surrounding them.

Elsa couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Anna, Hans still has the mirror! What if he attacks you with it?”

“Oh, like that’s gonna scare me!”

“Anna, maybe we should stop and think about this!” Elsa once again tries to get through to her sister. Thankfully, Anna had stopped and spun around to face her. But any hope Elsa had was thrown away when she saw the hard look on her sister’s face.

“Elsa, ever since Hans came back he forced our kingdom into another Eternal Winter, froze almost half of our citizens, sent Olaf and three kids flying off a mountain which, in return, sent a crazy duck after me!”

“I heard that!” Donald’s voice screamed over the raging winds.

Anna paid it no mind as she continues. “I don’t care if Hans has these crazy powers or some crazy new bodyguards! I’m going to give him a piece of my mind and nothing is going to stop me!” With that, she turned and ran straight into the white oblivion.

“Anna!” Elsa quickly ran after her. She was only a few feet in when suddenly a Heartless popped up in front of her. The Queen was forced to stop in her tracks, which allowed the creature to lunge at her. On reflex, Elsa stuck her hands out and let the magic explode from them.

Thankfully, it destroyed the Heartless on the spot.

However, her small skirmish with the creature made her loose Anna from her sight. 

* * *

It didn’t take long for the three Islanders to reach the blizzard on the slope of the mountain. They had run as fast as they could - although, they did have to slow down since Olaf couldn’t keep up with their long legs and they didn’t want to lose the little guy in this blizzard - up the hills and found themselves charging right into the storm.

Running up the hill to the blizzard was a lot easier.

The moment they stepped into the raging storm winds from all sides blew against them. The three yelped as they felt their bodies slowly being lifted off the ground once again. Unlike before, they were able to catch themselves on time before they could fly off the mountain again.

The same couldn’t be said for a certain snowman.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!” the three whipped around in time to see Olaf being torn apart before the blizzard blew his body parts away. “Oh no, not again!”

“Olaf!” the three friends cried out as they watch him disappear into the white clouds surrounding them like a tornado.

“Don’t worry, guys!” Olaf’s voice calls from within the storm. “This happens to me all the time!”

The moment he finished his sentence, Olaf’s body parts came sailing towards Riku and Sora. The boys quickly ducked to avoid getting hit as the body parts flew past them and back into the white clouds. “Sorry!”

“Hang on, little guy!” Sora shouted before he ran into the white clouds.

“Sora, wait!” Kairi called. “Maybe we should stick together and find- Oh, why do I even bother?!” she asked herself when Sora had disappeared from view.

Riku shook his head at his friend’s reckless behavior. “Let’s just find the others, he’ll be fine.”

Kairi hesitated, her eyes not leaving the place where Sora had run off to. She didn’t like the idea of leaving Sora alone in this type of battlefield. They couldn’t exactly see anything other than the white clouds, giving enemies plenty of chances to attack. The temperature was too frigid and the weather was blowing against, causing them to slow down so they’re not as fast as they usually are.

But then again, this was Sora. He’s been through worst. While he may not be used to the cold, Kairi can imagine him finding a way to work through it.

With her concerns resolved, Kairi turns to Riku with a determined look in her eyes. “Let’s go.” 

* * *

“Olaf!” Sora called into the raging winds as he trudged through the deep snow. “Olaf, where are you?!”

Nothing. Sora couldn’t hear anything other than the extreme winds blowing all around him. A part of him is glad that he tuck all of his hair into his wool hat because it was already hard enough to see anything when snow and ice were flying into his eyes, he didn’t even want to imagine what it would be like if all of his hair was out.

Maybe he should’ve listened to Donald and Goofy when they said he could’ve cut his hair more.

Shaking his head out of those thoughts, Sora once again tries to call out to the lost snowman. “Olaf! Can you tell me where you are?!”

To his surprise, he actually got an answer. But not from the loveable snowman he’s come to known.

“Hans!” startled, Sora whipped around to see a figure charging through the blizzard a few feet from where he was standing. “Hans, come out here and fight me like a real man!”

“Anna?” Sora was quick to recognize the voice but his eyes grew with concern when he sees the figure disappear into the white. “W-Wait, Anna!”

He ran after her as fast as he could in the snow.

* * *

“Hans!” Anna yells, the furious look in her eyes scanning the area around for any sign of the man. “Hans, I’m serious! Come out, you coward!”

“You’re just as talky as I remember,” Anna freezes when she hears that horrible voice speak up from behind her. She whips around to see him standing a few feet away in all of his smug glory. For some reason, the blizzard wasn’t affecting him at all. Probably because of that stupid mirror of his.

“Well, if you remember me being talky then you probably remember Mr. Punchy!” she pulls up her right fist as she makes her way over to him.

The man lets out a chuckle, something that didn’t sit so well for the princess. “And what’s so funny?”

“I-It’s just,” Hans paused for a second to catch his breath. “It’s just funny to watch you and see you think that you can actually get close enough to land a punch on me.”

Anna raises an eyebrow at this. “And why is that?”

For some reason she finds herself freezing in her tracks when she sees that horrible smirk form on his face. She didn’t understand why until she saw him left the mirror up, the glass shining brightly as its magic makes itself known.

“Because you’ll be too busy freezing to death,” Hans said.

With that, an icy blue beam shot out of the mirror and was making its way towards her. Anna, too shocked to move, could only watch as the magic got closer and closer. Right in the direction of her heart.

“Anna, look out!"

Suddenly, Anna could feel someone roughly pushing her away from the blast right before she landed face first into the snow. Over the howling wind, Anna could faintly hear someone yelling in pain before she felt somebody landing on the snow right next to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Laughs evilly*
> 
> I could tell you guys why I'm laughing but that'll give away too many things so I'm just going to keep on laughing!
> 
> *Continues to laugh evilly*


	11. Attack of the Marshmallow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a brief scare, our heroes reunite to fight against Hans and the Heartless. However, someone unexpectedly shows up to join the fray.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Managed to get this up after my birthday. Man, was this chapter a long one to do, which explains why it wasn't updated last week. And I did kind of left you guys in a cliffhanger.
> 
> But I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!

It took a while for Anna to regain her bearings. Looking at the ice beam that was making its way towards her heart brought back so many memories. Horrible, painful memories of her freezing to death. How she felt so alone as her whole body was racked with shivers that forced her to lay on the ground and wait for someone to help her or just accept her fate at that moment.

She only regained her senses when she heard someone groan right beside her.

Anna slowly moved her arms underneath her to lift herself up. Her eyes scanned the area around her, looking for the source of the groan. At first, she didn’t see anything but the white surrounding her until she looked over to her left and saw the outline of someone lying on their side with their back facing her.

She was able to realize who they were when she saw the wool hat on top of their head when they tried to push themselves up.

“Sora!” Anna immediately crawled over to him, ignoring the bitter snow sneaking its way through her gloves. From her point of view, Anna could see Sora was trying to push himself with one hand but the other was out of view. With the way Sora was hunching in on himself, Anna could only imagine he was cradling his chest with the other hand.

Flashes of the blue ray of light popped into her mind. Sora was the one who pushed her out of the way, right? Yeah, his voice called out to her right before he ran up and pushed her. But, didn’t that also mean he was left standing in her place? Right where the ice magic was about to hit her…

She and Sora are practically the same height. So, if Hans was aiming for her heart, if Sora didn’t move out of the way, then that meant-

Oh no.

“Sora!” She reached the boy in a matter of seconds as he finally found the strength to sit up. The boy looked up at her, confusion shining brightly in his blue eyes but there’s also a hint of worry in them. Worrying for her.

How could he worry about her when there’s more than a likely chance he got his heart frozen because of her?!   


“A-Anna, are you okay?” he asked her, his eyes looking over her entire form in case of any injuries.

Again, seriously with this kid?!

“Sora, are you alright?!” She quickly grabbed onto his shoulders. “Quick, tell me what happened! Did you get hit in the heart?!”

“W-What?” the poor boy looked overwhelmed but Anna was too worried to care.

“Are you cold? Does anything feel wrong to you? Oh! Let me check your hair!” she reached up to take off his wool hair to check for any white strands in that mess he calls hair but Sora grabbed her hand before she could.

“Anna, slow down!” he demands. “What’s gotten into you?”

Anna couldn’t help but stare at him. Moments ago, it looked like he was in pain but now it was he’s back to normal like nothing had happened. Normally, Anna would’ve dismissed this since she might’ve overreacted but she knew the symptoms better than anyone.

And she acted fine after going through the brief pain of the ice entering her heart.

“Sora, I need you to answer my question right now,” Anna said in the best serious tone she could muster. “When you pushed me out of the way, did you get hit in the heart by that ice magic?”

Sora’s face scrunched up in confusion. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

Honestly, Anna wanted to strangle this boy. Did he not see the danger he was in?!   


“What that got to do with-?! Do you not remember what we talked about?!” she questioned with her voice rising an octave. “About the whole frozen heart thing and the fact you can literally die from it?”

Now Sora’s eyes have grown wide with recognition and a hint of fear in them before he looked down at himself. After a few seconds, Sora held his hands out in front of him before he turned them over. Finally, the look of fear left his eyes.

“I think I’m okay,” he said.

But that didn’t sit well with Anna.

“Okay?!” she shouted in outrage as she shook the boy back and forth by his shoulders. “Sora, just answer the stupid the question! Did you get hit in the heart or not?!”

“Anna, will you calm down?” Sora was quick to detach himself from her. “I’m fine! Hans attack didn’t hurt me, I’m not turning to ice, I am completely fine.”

His words managed to calm Anna down, but only slightly. He… He was alright? She took a closer look at him; he didn’t appear to be shivering despite the cold blizzard they were in and his skin was still pretty tanned. Maybe she was blowing all of this out of proportion… After all, she was still reeling from almost getting her heart froze by the man who hurt her, maybe her fear was playing tricks with her mind.

Still, she still couldn’t help but ask, “So, you’re okay?”

“That’s what I’ve been saying!” the boy said in relief now that Anna seemed to have gotten the message.

A part of Anna wanted to rip off his hat just to be sure but she was able to restrain herself from doing it. She told herself that Sora was a warrior who probably dealt with injuries on a daily basis. So, while ignoring the fact that he’s too young to be dealing with these kinds of thing, she decided to take Sora’s word for it.

After all, what did she - a princess who spent most of her life isolated from other people - know anything about injuries caused by battles?

“Well, if you’re sure,” Anna murmurs.

“I am!” Sora insisted.

“Then I’ll take your word for it,” she finishes, with earned her a big smile from the boy.

Sounds of footsteps rushing towards them were able to draw Anna’s attention away from that subject, which was something Anna desperately needed. She looked over Sora’s head to see Hans run into view, his eyes scanning the area until he found them. Anna could see through the blazing snow that he was observing them for some reason.

He probably thought he hit one of them and was looking for any sign of that. After everything that just happened, Anna couldn’t stop the smug laugh from escaping her throat as she pointed at the confused man, drawing Sora’s attention to him.

“Ha! You miss, you lousy shooter!” she cried out, unable to help herself from laughing at the annoyed look on Hans’s face.

With a growl, Hans whipped out the mirror and pointed it at them. Anna and Sora could feel themselves stiffening when they saw the blue magic surrounding the mirror charging up. Maybe she should’ve listened to Kristoff and learned more about self-restraint when she had the chance.

“Run!” Sora quickly grabbed onto her hand and they both made a break for it. Anna could faintly hear the sounds of the mirror going off and Hans roaring in frustration when he missed his intended target as she and Sora run deeper into the blizzard.

She didn’t know how long they were running for but they did eventually stop at one point.

“I think we lost him,” Sora panted as they both put their hands on their knees to catch their breath.

Their break didn’t last long, however, when they heard someone screaming over the wind.

Or, to be precise, more like quacking.

“D-Donald?!” Sora called out into the storm. When he didn’t get a reply it looked like Sora wanted to run where he heard the quacking but he kept glancing back at Anna every now and then. He was probably torn between looking for his friend and not wanting to leave her alone.

Anna decided to relieve him of that burden. “Go find your friends.”

“But what about you?” he asked in concern. Seriously, just how selfless could this kid be?

“As long as I don’t run into Hans, I’ll be fine,” she reassures him. “You go find your friends, I’ll go look for my sister. Try not to get yourself into any trouble.”

“I could say the same for you!” Sora said back, a wide smile replacing the worried look that was there previously before he turned and ran into the direction he heard his friend quacking from.

Anna watched him go, her eyes scanning his form. It looked like his legs were able to keep himself and he wasn’t letting the wind blow him around like a piece of fabric. She didn’t let her eyes leave him until he was out of sight.

He’s fine, she tries to tell herself as she begins to search for Elsa. He’s perfectly fine. 

* * *

“Let go of me, you palooka!” Donald shrieked at the Heartless that managed to bite down onto his leg. He tried to whack it over the head with his staff but it did nothing to relinquish the hold it had on him.

“Firaga!” A voice called out and the next thing Donald knew, a fire spell blasted the stinking Heartless right off his leg. He looks over to see two familiar figures running into the fray and found himself shouting in relief.

“Kairi! Riku!”

His words caught the attention of Mickey and Goofy as they turned their attention to the two that were currently fighting off the Heartless with their Keyblades.

“You’re okay!” Mickey said in relief.

“Well, some more than others,” Kairi remarked, taking a side glance at Riku who was violently slashing at Heartless left and right. Being in the cold for this long was really affecting his mood.

It was then Goofy noticed that they were missing one more person. “Hey, where’s Sora?”

“I’m here!” Right on cue, Sora ran up to them with the Kingdom Key swung over his shoulder. The moment he reached them, he swung his Keyblade at a Heartless that charged at him. As soon as it disappeared, Sora turned to his friends with a huge smile on his face. “You guys weren’t planning on throwing a party without me, were you?”

His words managed to bring a smile on his friends’ faces. Same old Sora.

The six quickly returned to their battle when more Heartless began to pop out of the snow surrounding. Now that their thoughts weren’t clouded with worry anymore, the three animals found themselves fighting the creatures a bit easier.

Suddenly, the Heartless stopped attacking. The warriors watched in confusion as the creatures ran off into the blizzard, their yellow eyes disappearing into the white haze.

“What was that all about?” Sora asked as he dismisses his Keyblade. Riku and Kairi followed suit.

“Gosh, I don’t know,” Mickey said, his eyes not leaving the place where he last saw the Heartless. “Maybe Pete called them-”

He was cut off by three screams.

“AHH!”

“HEY!”

“MICKEY!”

The mouse swiftly turns around in time to see the three teens get pulled into the blizzard, their figures disappearing from view.

“Fellas!” the three animals screamed as they try to run after their friends. But it was too late. The human teenagers were already lost to the blizzard surrounding them.

“W-What just happened?!” Mickey asked his two stunned friends. They were staring off at the place where Sora had vanished along with Riku and Kairi before Goofy finally spoke up.

“G-Gwarsh, I don’t know!” he said with a slight panic in his tone. “Something just reached out and grabbed them before we could do anything!”

Mickey blinked. Something had grabbed them? What could have possibly-?

He didn’t have time to finish his train of thought when a large hand with icicles for fingers reached out from the blizzard and grabbed him, Donald, and Goofy. 

* * *

“Elsa!” Anna cried out into the wind as she trudged through the deep snow and the raging gale. After she separated herself from Sora, Anna had spent most of her time trying to find her sister through this storm. So far, she wasn’t getting any luck with that. “Elsa, where are you?!”

“Anna!” Okay, nevermind. Anna quickly turned around to see her sister running up to her, some of her blonde hair had fallen out of her braid and the worry in her eyes went along with her hagged appearance.

“Elsa!” the moment the two met they threw their arms around each other.

“Anna, are you okay?” Elsa asked once they let go of each other, her blue eyes scanning her over. “Hans didn’t do anything, did he?”

“Well, other than giving me a heart attack, I’m fine!” Anna reassured her. “Besides, Hans was always a lousy shooter.”

“I heard that!” a voice shouted. The two stiffen before turning to see Hans standing a few ways away from them, his eyes landing on the youngest sisters with annoyance. “And I’ll have you know that I have perfect aim! Ask your sister!”

Elsa didn’t waste time pulling Anna behind her before sticking her hand out towards the man. “Stay away from us, Hans!”

“Oh, I don’t think so,” he took a step forward, forcing the two to take a step back. “See, as much as I would rather not see you two again for the rest of my life, I still need your kingdom. But in order to do that, I need to either kill you or force you to sign over it over to me.”

“You’re absolutely crazy if you think we’re just going to sign the kingdom over to a psychopath!” Anna shrieked from her place behind Elsa.

A smirk grew on his face, something that made the magic in Elsa’s hand glow just in case he did something. “Not even for your new friends?”

Wait, what?

Before they knew it, the blizzard went away. No longer were they surrounded by the white wall that kept them from seeing anything. Looking at their surroundings, they could see that they had found themselves standing near a narrow path that leads to a pretty long fall off the mountain.

They had no idea why Hans would call off the blizzard until they heard a raspy voice yell, “Put us down, you big palooka!”

Gasping, the two sisters look over their shoulders to see a sight that filled them with shock and dread at the same time.

There was Marshmallow, standing a little to close to a ledge, but something was off about him. He was in Angry Mode - Anna had called it that a while ago and the name stuck - with the icicles on his back and his teeth grown in. Upon closer inspection, they noticed this pale, cold white ice covering half of his face but it was able to leave a hole for his left eye to see, almost like a very strange looking mask.

But the two didn’t have time to dwell on Marshmallow’s strange choice of fashion when they noticed the people that Marshmallow had in his hands that were dangling over the ledge that leads to a long fall.

“Guys! Sora!” Anna cried, seeing the six struggle to get out of the giant’s grip. She could see that Marshmallow had all of their arms pinned down at their hands, making them unable to summon their weapons. They were completely at the snowman’s mercy.

Pete stood nearby, laughing at the sight. “Ha! Not so high and mighty now, are ya Keyblade wielders?”

His words cause the six to glare at him, Donald even looks like he was about to break out into one of his famous temper tantrums, but it didn’t last long when Marshmallow tighten his grip, making them all cry out.

“Marshmallow, stop!” Anna and Elsa quickly ran over, the former waving her hands around to catch the snowman’s attention. “They’re our friends!”

“Marshmallow, you put them down right this instant!” Elsa shouted in the mother authority tone she would use when said snowman would misbehave.

The name of the snowman caught the trapped people’s attention as they turn to look at the sisters with incredulous looks. “Marshmallow?” Donald and Sora asked in disbelief.

“Who in their right my mind would name this thing Marshmallow?” Riku questioned as he gestured towards Marshmallow with his head.

The two sisters shot each other looks before they turned their heads when a familiar voice shouts, “Ah! Marshmallow, don’t!”

Riku looks up to see Olaf, who managed to put himself back together when the blizzard ended, running towards them and blinks. “Okay, I guess that’s not so surprising.”

“Bad Marshmallow!” Olaf shouted as he ran up to his towering younger brother before jumping onto the hand that was holding the Destiny Trio, his little twig arms desperately hanging onto the icicle fingers. “I’m so sorry, you three, this is a horrible first impression for Marshmallow to make on you guys.”

“W-Well, if you can convince him to let us go, we’ll pretend this never happened!” Kairi suggested, not entirely understanding the relationship Olaf had with the creature holding her and her friends hostage but she’ll take any chance of getting out she can get.

Olaf smiles at her. “No problem, Kai!” he then turns his attention to Marshmallow, who was looking at him in confusion. “Now, Marshmallow, we’ve talked about grabbing onto people and hanging them precariously over a ledge without permission. So, why don’t you let my friends and their associates go then we can all start over?”

“Did he just called us your associates?” Donald questioned with a ticked off look towards the Islanders. The three could only shrug in response.

Meanwhile, Marshmallow was looking at Olaf intensely. It was like the giant snowman was trying to remember where he saw the little one before. Luckily, it was able to calm the giant down to the point his grip on the six became loose enough for them to breathe easier.

It was something that Hans noticed right away and quickly took out the mirror to do something about it. He pointed the mirror at Marshmallow and willed its powers on the creature.

The reaction was instant; Marshmallow quickly tightens his grip - causing the six to scream in pain when they felt their ribs getting crushed - before he threw the hand Olaf was holding hard enough to make the little snowman let go and be sent flying off the ledge, screaming.

“Olaf!” the three teens screamed as they watch their friend fall all the way down to the bottom of the mountain.

“Don’t worry, guys!” Olaf calls up to them despite his current predicament. “I don’t have any bones!” And just like that, Olaf had disappeared from view, already so far below from any of them to see.

“Marshmallow, why would you do that?!” Elsa whips around to face Hans. “What did you do to him?!”

“See, here’s the difference between you two and I,” Hans begins, completely ignoring their glare at his lack of response to Elsa’s question. “I have no problem getting rid of my outside help if it means getting what I want.”

Pete stops laughing at his enemies’ predicament to look at his comrade with a hurt look. “Hey…”

“But I know that’s not how you two work so I’m willing to offer you a trade; your kingdom for their lives.”

“Why you-!” Sora started to shout but a roar from Marshmallow startled him enough to not finish his insult.

“Better hurry up, you two,” Hans continues right before he gives a signal to Marshmallow, who then began to squeeze the six he had in his hands, drawing loud cries from all of them as they felt the air being forced out of their lungs and their ribs being crushed. “Because I’m not sure how long those freaky friends of yours will be able to last in your wandering giant’s grip.”

“D-Don’t worry about us, fellas!” Mickey manages to gasp out.

“Y-Yeah! B-Besides, this is nothing compared to- OUCH!” Sora yelled when the grip became too tight for him to manage.

Elsa and Anna could only stare at the scene before them with horror and confliction. With no way of getting through to Marshmallow, they knew they had to make a choice and fast. But, to submit their subjects to a ruler like Hans was like a fate worst then death. Knowing how far he would go for a kingdom, what would happen to the people who opposed him?

More cries from the captors drew their attention back to their new friends. As much as they don’t want to give Hans the kingdom they also couldn’t let him kill the others. Anna, especially, didn’t want them to die because of this. The six had only come to Arendelle to deal with Hans’ magic mirror, which probably would’ve been destroyed already if she hadn’t dropped the Lavender Crystal. Not only that but three of them were thrown off a thousand-foot mountain, Sora nearly got his heart frozen just to protect her, and now they’re getting crushed by someone who’s supposed to be a friend.

Anna knew she had to take responsibility for her actions. It was the least she could do for them. She just hopes Elsa will forgive her for what she’s about to say.

“Alright, Hans,” Anna begin as she told herself to not look at Hans or Elsa as she continues. “You can have-”

“CHARGE!”

Anna finds herself being cut short when a loud cry echoed through the air before it was followed by the sounds of hooves slamming on top of the snowy ground that slowly grew louder. Startled, Anna and Elsa whipped around to see where the sound was coming from.

They weren’t prepared to see Kristoff riding on top of Sven, their glaze lock on Hans, who still hasn’t seen them.

It was a second later that Hans realized the two were looking over his shoulder so he turned around just in time to meet the deadly stare of a reindeer. “Oh no…”

_ BAM! _

The sisters winced slightly when Sven hit his mark right on target, sending Hans flying through the air. He eventually flew into Pete, sending the two flying into the rocky wall. The force caused the snow - which was hanging precariously above them - to fall right on top of the two.

“Hey, who turned out the lights?!” Pete’s muffled voice shouted from within the snow. Everyone paid him no mind.

“Elsa, quick! Try talking to Marshmallow now!” Kristoff said. Upon realizing that Hans would be too busy digging himself out of the snow to control the giant, Elsa quickly turns back to Marshmallow and runs over.

“Marshmallow!” the giant snowman looks up at the sound of her voice but he did not loosen his grip on the six. She had to work fast. “Marshmallow, you look at me right in the eye and stop what you’re doing. Right. NOW!”

Despite the harsh tone she mustered up, Marshmallow continues to just stare at her with this blank expression on his face and judging by the cries from the six he wasn’t letting up. Elsa took a deep breath, readying herself to say something when something changed.

“Elsa…?” a soft croon came from the giant right before he loosens his grip on his captives - who all took a deep breath when they could finally breathe.

A smile worm its way on Elsa’s face. “Yes, yes! It’s me, Marshmallow!” she reaches a hand out as she took a step closer. “It’s Elsa…”

“Elsa!” Marshmallow cried out in excitement, his expression transforming from a blank soldier’s into one that would resemble an excited child. To further prove this, he waved his arms around. Unfortunately, he failed to notice the groans from his captives as the whole world began to spin.

“Yes, yes,” Elsa said, trying to keep her creation calm since she could see Sora and Goofy getting ready to throw up. “I know you’re excited to see me but you need to take a look at what you’re holding right now.”

Marshmallow blinks in confusion before he looks down at the six people - who were still dizzy from moving around so much - in his hands. His eyes widen in shock. When did these people get here?

“Those are our friends you’re holding, Marshmallow,” the queen continues. “They’re sick and I need you to put them down so they can get better.”

“Huey, Dewey, Louie! When did you three get here? Go back to your rooms!” Donald mumbled incoherently, his mind still suffering from motion sickness but it was able to play a factor in Elsa’s words.

Marshmallow’s eyes soften when sees how disoriented the people he was holding were. “Aw, poor kids, poor animals,” he murmured before he began to lower his arms down.

The residents of Arendelle could feel themselves relaxing slightly when they see the giant lowering the six down to the ground so he could let them go. They were prepared for things to go south just in case Elsa couldn’t get through but seeing Marshmallow complying so easily showed them they were worrying over nothing.

At least, that was what they thought until Marshamallow let out a roar and snapped his arms back, drawing screams from his captives as he flails around.

“No, no, no!” Elsa could feel her heart sink as she watched Marshmallow jerk left and right like an animal in pain. “Marshmallow, it’s alright! Just put them down!”

She didn’t know if she had gotten through to him at that point but, to her surprise, he did let the hand he was using to hold the teenagers go.

But since he was still flailing around, he accidentally ended up throwing them off the ledge he was standing on.

“Fellas!” the animals cried from their place, Goofy managing to pry his arm loose so he can reach a hand out as he and the other two watch their friends fall down the mountain once again, screaming.

“Not again!” Elsa faintly heard Sora yell before she couldn’t hear his or his friend’s screams anymore.

She turned her attention back to Marshmallow, who was now glaring at her and the others. The ice spines on his back were slowly growing longer, an indicator that he was getting ready to attack.

But why? She thought she managed to get through to him. Why would he suddenly lash out when Hans was-

Her eyes widen. Hans.

She whips around to the place where she saw him and that giant cat buried and, to her horror, Hans was there, free from the pile he was buried under and holding that cursed mirror, pointing it at the giant snowman.

She could vaguely see the giant cat’s hand trying to dig itself out but she paid him no mind.

“Hans, let him go!” she shouted, drawing the attention of her sister and their friends. The three stiffen when they see their enemy free and was now pointing the mirror in their direction.

“Give me the kingdom and I’ll consider letting the snow monster go!” the man roared back.

Meanwhile, the three anthropomorphic animals were busy trying to pry themselves loose from Marshmallow’s grip. After getting over their motion sickness and seeing their friends fall once again, they were more motivated to get out but they weren’t having any luck. That was until Mickey noticed Goofy had a free hand trying to push the icicle fingers away.

“Goofy! Your arm!” he called, catching the large dog’s attention. Goofy looked at him in confusion before he noticed his free hand gripping the icicles holding them.

“Oh, right!” quickly summoning his Shield, Goofy wasted no time smashing against Marshmallow’s face. The giant let out a startled yell as he lets go of them. Thankfully, unlike their friends, they were able to land on the snowy ground Marshmallow was standing on. At once, the three made a break for it.

But it didn’t take long for Marshmallow to recover from the hit and chase after them.

“Duck!” Elsa shouted before she brought her hands forward and a gust of snow came pouring out.

Thankfully, the trio heard the warning and dived forward with their hands over their heads. Their dive allowed the snow to rush over their heads and hit Marshmallow square in the face. The attack left Marshmallow in a daze, staggering on his feet until he fell backward. Snow flew up on the impact before gravity took hold and it went back to the same place it was at. Some accidentally landed on Marshmallow’s face and fell off the cliff but that was it.

“Thanks, Elsa!” Mickey said as he and others quickly rejoin the citizens of Arendelle. At once, everyone turned to Hans, weapons ready and tensing their bodies up for a fight.

Hans growls when he sees that the only leverage he had against the sisters were now free. Not seeing anything that could give him an advantage, he did the only thing he could do at the moment; he lashed out.

A blizzard came pouring out of the mirror in an instant, quickly making its way towards them at an alarming rate. Not wanting a repeat of what happened last time, Elsa quickly summoned a shield that surrounded her and everyone. It was able to keep the blizzard from reaching them and they were able to see each other but they didn’t know how long Elsa could hold it up. Even now, they could see Elsa shaking and gritting her teeth together as she fought to keep her arms up to hold the barrier.

It got to the point where Elsa was forced to move backward, still able to keep the barrier up but unable to stay in one place. The others quickly followed suit, seeing that the barrier was moving with her. They kept walking backward until Donald’s foot hit a ledge.

They had back into a corner.

“We have to jump!” Kristoff announced when they see the barrier get smaller, Elsa no longer having the strength to keep it up.

The response he got wasn’t exactly positive. “WHAT?!” the three animals shouted.

“We can’t fight Hans like this when he’s able to change the field to his advantage,” the mountain pointed out. “The best thing for us to do is to escape and regroup with your friends and Olaf!”

“Are you asking us to jump off a mountain?!” Donald quacked, his mind still unable to process the outrageous idea Kristoff just gave them.

“You’ll be fine!” Anna spoke up. “The fall isn’t even that high! Besides, if your friends were able to survive a fall higher than this then this one should be a piece a cake. So just suck it up and get ready to jump!”

Donald looked like he wanted to explode at her but one look from Mickey was able to keep himself in check.

Elsa groaned as she did her best to keep the barrier up but she knew it wouldn’t be long before she gave out. “E-Everyone… Ready?” she manages to get out, having overheard Kristoff’s plan.

They all nodded before they turn their attention over to the ledge in front of them, getting themselves ready to jump when called. However, Donald and Goofy still look a little nervous as they gaze at the height from here to the ground below.

But they didn’t have time to dwell on it for long when Elsa shouted, “Now!”

She let go of the barrier and the blizzard was finally unleashed.

Luckily, everyone had already jumped by then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, look at that. No cliffhanger.


	12. To The Castle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After barely managing to escape Hans and his followers, our heroes regroup on what to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is more of a calm before the storm type of deal. You guys can breathe easier this week.

Anna was faintly aware of the buzz in the back of her head when she woke up. Groaning, Anna placed a hand to her head, hoping to get the buzzing to stop. It did, thankfully, allowing Anna the chance to open her eyes. She didn’t know what she was expecting but it wasn’t white clouds and the rocky formation of a mountain hanging over her head.

It took a second for her to remember that she and everyone else had jumped off the mountain to escape Hans’s blizzard. It took another second for her to realize she was lying on her back in the deep snow.

She quickly sat up, wondering what happened to everyone else, but immediately regret it when she felt the world spin. “Oh, headrush…”

A groan was heard from her left and was able to see Elsa sitting up, a hand to her head. “Well, now I understand why you and Kristoff don’t like using snow as a cushion for a long period of time.”

Elsa’s remark was enough to put a smile on Anna’s face before the younger sister looks over her shoulder, looking for the others if they were able to land nearby.

She was able to find three of them in a… Very interesting position. It was the three walking animals, she could tell by the clothes. Apparently, they had landed headfirst into the snow, the top half of their bodies buried in a snowdrift, leaving the bottom halves up high in the air.

“Is everyone alright?” Elsa asked before her eyes landed on the peculiar sight. “Oh…”

A moment after she said that, the snow a few feet away from the animals exploded. Once it cleared up, Kristoff and Sven were seen, both covered in flakes.

“We’re fine!” the mountain calls right before he begins to rub the snow off him.

Seconds later, the animals were able to dislodge themselves from the drifts. The three fell back on their behinds, disoriented and their faces covered in flakes like Kristoff and Sven.

“And… Are you guys okay?” Anna asked hesitantly, not sure if they could even answer with how spaced out they looked.

“Gosh, that was a long fall,” Mickey mutters, his eyes still spinning in circles.

“I think I somehow managed ta get brain freeze from it,” Goofy placed a hand to his head.

“Stupid snow,” Donald grumbled underneath his breath but everyone was able to hear it.

Okay, so they’re okay enough to answer back. That was good. At least, Anna thought so.

Once they all had regained their bearings, everyone stood up, some trying to dust the snow off their clothes. It was then Goofy noticed something very important missing within their group.

“Hey, where are Sora and the others?” his words caught everyone’s attention, especially Donald and Mickey, who quickly dart their heads around to find any sign of her friends.

Anna was quick to remember what happened; Marshmallow had thrown them and Olaf off the cliff right before she and the others had jumped. That means they couldn’t have landed too far from the rest of them. Right?

“Maybe they landed somewhere nearby,” Elsa spoke her sister’s thoughts out loud to calm the panicking animals. “I mean, they fell pretty close to the spot where we jumped. They’re probably not that far off.”

“Or maybe they already got up and began to search for us again,” Kristoff pointed out.

Donald turned to them with a glare and opened his bill, probably ready to lose his temper with them for losing his friends once again. But before he could get a word out, a voice yelled through the air.

“Sora? Kairi? Mr. Silver-who-hates-the-cold?” Everyone blinks when they heard the voice. It almost sounded like-

“Ya think it would be easier to find someone who loudly complains about winter!”

“Olaf!” Anna shouted once she realized who was shouting. Immediately, everyone ran in the direction they heard the little snowman from.

After turning a corner they found a few ways away. The little guy was in the middle of a clearing covered in deep snow, moving back and forth to different spots as his head dart around like he was looking for something.

“Olaf!” Anna calls again, now gaining the snowman’s attention as his head whips towards them.

“Guys! You’re alright!” Olaf shouted in relief as they make their way over to him.

Mickey took a look around, hoping to find a sign of his friends. “Say, where are Sora, Riku, and Kairi?”

“See, that’s the funny thing,” Olat scratched his head. “When I was putting myself back together, I saw them land on this spot,” he taps the ground underneath his right foot. “But when I looked away for a few seconds and turned back, they were gone. It was like they just vanished into thin air!”

“We didn’t vanish, Olaf,” Riku’s voice spoke up, muffled but loud enough to startle everyone. “We’re still in the same spot where we landed.”

“Riku?” Mickey calls out, darting his head back and forth to look for any sign. “Gawrsh, where are you and the others?!”

“We’re under here,” Kairi, voice muffled just like Riku’s, said and everyone could finally pinpoint where the voices are; right underneath Olaf’s feet.

Yelling in shock, Olaf quickly hops off the spot as Goofy calls down to it. “Fellas? Is that really you under there?”

“Hey, Goofy…” now it was Sora’s muffled voice that spoke up from within the snow, tired but it was still the boy the animals knew.

“Uh, how did the three of you get buried underneath all of this snow?” Elsa spoke up, confusion shining in her eyes. Even if the three didn’t land feet first into deep snow, they shouldn’t be buried like this.

“We should be asking you guys what you were doing up there,” Riku snapped back. “We barely had any time to get out of the snow when more of it came flying from above and buried us underneath it!”

Elsa cringed as the memories of battling Marshmallow came to mind. “Right, sorry about that. I was trying to get Marshmallow to let got of your friends.”

“You couldn’t have done something else?!” the Snow Queen flinches back at the response she got. She didn’t expect him to snap like that.

“Hey, don’t talk to my sister like that!” Anna pointed a finger at the spot where she believes Riku was buried.

“He’s just mad because the snow is getting inside his clothes,” Sora spoke up on his best friend’s behalf. Kristoff looks over with confusion and a slightly disturbed gaze in his eyes.

“And how exactly do you know that?” the mountain man asked carefully, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

The moment of silence from the snow didn’t exactly help matters.

“Because the same thing is happening to me,” the boy reluctantly admits and Kristoff could feel himself relaxing as a result.

“Get us out of here, please?” Kairi pleaded.

The walking animals and Olaf didn’t waste a second complying in her request. “Don’t worry, fellas,” Goofy assured them as he and the others use their bare hands - or feathers in Donald’s case - to dig through the snow. “We’ll get ya out of there in a jiffy!”

As the four digs through the snow, it gave the citizens of Arendelle enough time to regroup with each other.

“So, are you two okay while Sven and I were gone?” Kristoff asked the two sisters before he quickly retracted it when he realized how it sounded. “I-I mean, not like you two can’t defend yourselves. I-I was just really worried and-”

Smiling softly at her boyfriend’s awkwardness, Anna places a hand on his arm to get him to stop rambling. “Kristoff, it’s alright,” she assures him. “We’re fine. Well, other than that frozen heart scare with Hans, everything is alright!”

“Wait, what?” her sister and her boyfriend both asked in unison, concern flashing in their eyes.

Meanwhile, the four had already dug a foot into the snow and they still haven’t found any sign of their friends. Donald could feel his patience growing thin as he keeps finding more snow underneath his feathers. “How deep were you three buried?!” he quacked.

“How much snow did Elsa threw off the cliff?” Riku shot back, his voice not as muffled as before. They were getting closer. That was a good sign.

“Now, don’t get mad at Elsa, Riku,” Goofy chided. “It’s not her fault her snowman went all crazy.”

The four expected Riku to snap back at them but they weren’t prepared for Kairi’s excited voice speaking up. “Ah! Wait! I think I finally see light!”

“Really?” Olaf looked down at the place he was digging in confusion. “We still don’t see- AH! Zombie hand!”

A gloved hand shot out from the snow hole they were digging, nearly giving them all heart attacks. Not long after, two more joined it. Mickey was ready to summon his Keyblade before he realized who they belong to.

“Aha!” the three animals immediately grabbed onto each hand; Goofy with Riku’s, Donald with Kairi’s, and Mickey with Sora’s. Together, the three heaved with all of their strength to get their friends out of the snow. Little by little, they could see more of their friends emerging from the white ground.

“What did you mean a ‘frozen heart scare’?!” Elsa asked after she processed her sister’s words. “Did Hans tried to freeze you?”

“Well, yes…” Anna answered hesitantly and flinched when Kristoff exploded.

“Did you get hit?!”

“No!” she yelled. “No, I am completely fine! Sora pushed me out of the way before Hans could hit me.”

“Sora?” Elsa took a glance towards the spot the walking animals were trying to pull said boy and his friends out of the snow before turning back to her sister. “And is he okay?”

“He told me he didn’t get hit so I guess he’s fine,” Anna looks over in time to see the three Islanders successfully emerging from the snow they were buried under, their entire clothes covered in flakes. “I hope…”

“You three okay?” Olaf asked the teenagers, who are now laying on their back, panting heavily.

“Oh sure, we’re perfectly fine!” Riku said sarcastically.

“Not like we were just thrown off a mountain two times…” Kairi drily added.

“At least the snow’s soft,” Sora sighs, letting his head fall back into the cushion that trapped him and his friends not that long ago.

“I think they’re going to be alright!” Olaf said optimistically to the three animals.

“So, anyone got any ideas on what we should do next?” Kristoff asked after a while, he, Sven, and the sisters joining the others.

“Gwarsh, I have no idea,” Mickey admitted. “The only real plan I had was the Lavender Crystal and that’s gone,” he suddenly turns to the Islanders, who were now sitting up and brushing the snow off their clothes. “Unless you three happened to come across it when you fell down the mountain the first time.”

“No,” came the short reply from the three.

“Then I’m stumped,” Mickey shrugged.

Before anyone else could say anything, voices that are unfamiliar to any of them spoke not too far off from the place where they all are.

“He said they should be around here,” one of the voices spoke up, male and seemly adult.

“Well, don’t just dawdle, get moving!” Another yelled, this one deeper and older, with a hint of an accent.

It took a few seconds for it to click in Anna’s head. “Wait a minute,” she turns to her sister, eyes wide with dread. “Isn’t that Liam and Filip?”

Elsa’s own eyes grew wide. “Oh no…”

“Who’s Liam and Filip?” Goofy asked, not understanding why the sisters look so scared.

“Liam and Filip are a part of Arendelle’s Royal Guards,” Elsa explained. “But they’ve always had a problem with me and my magic. They kept disobeying me to the point I was about to fire them right before Hans showed up.”

“And if they’re here looking for us while Hans’s in charge, they won’t hesitate to report back to him and he’ll find us and bring that mirror of his!” Anna finished and now fear began to make itself known on the warriors’ faces.

After what happened last time they try to fight when Hans had the mirror, they wouldn’t stand a chance going up against him now.

The voices got closer.

“Ya hear something?”

“I think they’re around here!”

“Hide!” Kristoff whisper-shouted and everyone didn’t hesitate to do so. Finding a gigantic snowdrift nearby, they all immediately dove behind it. Waving her arm, Elsa was able to hide any sign of them in the snow right before the guards came running into the field.

“There’s nothing here!” the younger voice cried out in frustration.

“Don’t start whining until ya stop looking around, boy! Search!” the older voiced ordered and they could faintly hear the crunching of the snow nearby. Thankfully, it wasn’t that close.

“I still don’t understand why this Hans fellow can’t go look for the witch himself,” the younger voice, who was now obviously Filip since he was closer for Elsa and Anna to hear better, commented after a while.

“Ya remember what he said; he can’t come out here because he’s busy looking for a place to hide that mirror of his back at the castle,” Anna’s eyes grew wide when she heard Liam said that but continued to listen on. “With those new freaks running around the kingdom, His Majesty doesn’t want ta take any chances.”

Kairi felt insulted when she heard the term Liam just used to describe her and her friends. “Did he just called us freaks?” She was quickly shushed by her two childhood friends.

“Well, wherever the witch and her lackeys are, they’re long gone,” Filip pointed out. “Best we report back to Hans and tell him the search hasn’t gone so great.”

“Aye…”

They heard footsteps walking away from the area, allowing everyone a chance to relax since they were all tense when they first heard the voices. Once they were sure they couldn’t hear them anymore, everyone stood up from the snowdrift.

“Other than the fact they’re prejudice, I can see why you wanted to fire them; they’re really bad at their jobs,” Riku remarked to Elsa as he stares at the footprints left by the guards. They were barely even in the field they were previously at.

“Gawrsh, maybe I should give them some pointers,” Goofy said and he was given looks of disbelief by his friends.

“Let’s wait until after Elsa fires them, Goofy,” Mickey stated slowly, patting his friend on the arm.

“Hans is hiding the mirror at the castle…” Anna murmured, her mind still processing what the guards had just said. Hans was hiding the mirror, the mirror is at the castle, the same castle that she explored every inch of during the years the gates were closed… Wait a minute…

Anna gasps as something dawned on her. “I have an idea,” she suddenly announces. “Why don’t we go to the castle and grab the mirror ourselves?”

She was met with a lot of outrageous “What?!” from everyone - even Sven and Sora looked at her like she was crazy, which she probably is - but that didn’t stop her from explaining.

“Just think about it,” she implored. “We all need to get rid of that mirror and Hans just gave us an unintentional opening to get it. A-And those guys are from another world,” she points over to the newcomers. “We can give them the mirror and they can leave Arendelle with it! Hans would be powerless and they can find a way to destroy the mirror while we take back Arendelle. It’s a win-win plan for all of us!”

“While I do think that this plan is better than your usual ones, aren’t you forgetting something else?” upon seeing Anna’s confused look, Kristoff continues. “Hans is in control of the castle that’s filled with guards that don’t like us or are too afraid to do anything.”

“Oh, the contrary, my fine mountain man,” Anna says in a confident tone as she begins walking. “I believe that I have the solution for that little problem.” 

* * *

“Since when was this here?” Elsa asked as they all stood before a large cave-like opening within the rocky terrain of the castle in the back. The opening, however, was blocked by this large metal grate with a small lock on the right side.

“Oh, it’s been here for years,” Anna replied as Riku, Sora, and Kristoff stepped forward to examine the grate. “Apparently, it was built for an escape route whenever there was an invasion. I found this place after I accidentally fell through the trap door in the castle.”

“Wait,” Kristoff turns back to look at Anna with a confused expression. “if this escape route was a way for you to leave the castle, while didn’t go?”

Anna looks down at the ground as if she were an ashamed child, her foot slightly kicking the snow. “Because Papa had the key and he always knew exactly where to hide it…” she reluctantly admitted.

Kristoff shook his head at her tone before he walks over to Sven. “Well, since we don’t exactly have the key your dad hid from you I guess we’ll have to improvise,” the mountain missed the way Riku and Sora looked at each other as he took out an icepick from the satchel that’s attached to Sven’s back. “I don’t know how well my icepick will work on the lock but it’s the best thing we-”

He was cut off when Riku summoned his Keyblade and pointed it at the gate. Seconds later, a white beam was shot out from it and hit the lock on the gate. It glowed for a split second before dying down, revealing that the lock had fallen down to the ground as the gate slowly swings open.

Riku turned to the mountain man. “You were saying about not having a key?”

Kristoff’s jaw fell to the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note to self, Kristoff, those weapons that look like keys are actually keys.


	13. Searching for the Mirror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The search for Skadi's Mirror doesn't go the way the heroes were expecting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nine pages on Docs. Hope you guys like it either way!
> 
> Also, there's an OUAT reference in this chapter, for all of you Once Upon A Time fans out there!

The secret passageway Anna had found actually had a ladder when they reached what seemed to be a dead end. “That’s where I fell from,” Anna points to a wooden part of the rocky ceiling, where everyone could see a faint light peeking out. “It leads to one of the storage rooms in the East Wing, which hopefully means there will be fewer guards since the entrances are normally in the South Wing.”

Kristoff took a moment to inspect the ladder and the size of the wooden trap door before he turns to Sven. “Sorry, buddy. Guess you’ll have to sit this one out.”

The reindeer’s mood instantly deflated when he heard that. Seeing the look of sadness in his friend’s eyes, Kristoff quickly tried to make it better. “Hey, don’t worry about it, buddy. If anything happens, you can come running through the castle and run over all the guards you want.”

That seems to have lifted Sven’s mood as the reindeer smiles slighting before sitting down to rest. Upon seeing that Sven will be alright on his own, the others began to make their way up the ladder. Olaf was the last to go up since he took the last second to turn and around wave a stick arm at the reindeer.

“Bye, Sven!” he then walks over to Kairi, who waited for him, and allows her to pull him up to her shoulders. “Why, thank you, Your Majesty.”

Kairi did her best not to wince when she heard that. “Please don’t call me that when we’re with the others, Olaf,” she tells the innocent snowman before climbing up the ladder.

Sven blinks when he hears his friend’s words. Was the red-haired girl a princess? Oh, that actually explains a few things. 

* * *

 “I know I said this plan was better than your usual crazy ones,” Kristoff begins as the group slowly makes their way down a corridor, their eyes shifting around in case a guard came into sight. “But I just realized another big flaw in this.”

“Oh, really? What’s that?” Anna asked.

“That this is a really big castle and Hans could’ve hidden the mirror anywhere,” the princess’s eyes widen when she realizes that. Right… After thirteen years of being locked inside this castle and believing it to be the smallest place in the world, she had forgotten how big this place could actually be.

“I wouldn’t worry so much about that, Kristoff,” Mickey spoke up before Anna could say anything in rebuttal. “See, when the mirror hasn’t been held for a certain amount of time it begins to freeze the area surrounding it. So, we’ll just have to look for any rooms that seem colder than the others.”

As he said this, Sora, who was rubbing his arms from a sudden chill in the air, took a moment to look up and froze dead in his tracks when he caught sight of something on the seeing.

“Guys?” upon realizing that Sora was no longer walking with them, the others turn to see the boy pointing a finger up at the seeing. “Is that frost creeping in common for this castle or is it from the mirror?”

They all looked up to the place Sora’s pointing and their eyes slowly grew wide when they saw white frost, slowly spreading along the concrete in the form of a jagged snowflake. Upon closer inspection, they could see the frost was coming from a small crack in the ceiling.

“Well, at least we know where the mirror is,” Anna tried to bring the mood with a sad excuse for a cheerful tone. But even she knew nothing could stop the feeling of trepidation they all felt when they realize how dangerous the mirror could be even without Hans’s influence. 

* * *

They eventually found out where the mirror was hidden; inside the King’s Study.

Just when the two sisters thought Hans couldn’t sink any lower, he goes and does this to their father’s private room.

No one said anything when they saw the dark look in the sisters’ eyes when they came across the frost-covered door. Probably because they were all too scared to do so. Olaf even unconsciously took a step closer to Sora and Kairi when Elsa forced the door open.

They were immediately met with a burst of chilly air in their faces. Sora couldn’t stop his body from trembling when the cold hit him and quickly rubbed his hands on his arms in an attempt to warm himself up.

“Your dad must’ve really loved books,” Kristoff commented as they step into the frost-covered room. His words ring true, though, bookshelves took the place of most of the walls in this room. The only wall that wasn’t a bookshelf was the gigantic window near the back of the room. The only furniture inside this room was the desk and comfortable chair in front of the window, a coffee table, a lounge sofa, and what appears to be this large cabinet near the door.

It actually would look like a nice place to relax if it weren’t for the fact it was covered in frost that’s shaped in a strange way and the temperature was too frigid.

“Papa was a reader,” Anna said in response to Kristoff’s comment. “How else did ya think he found about the trolls?”

Kairi paused and turned to Riku in confusion. “Trolls?” she mouth but that only got her an equally confused shrug in response. Deciding to drop the subject, for now, the two quickly began to help Sora with lifting the frozen cushions on the sofa to find the mirror.

“Do ya think this Hans fella really hid the mirror here, Mick?” Goofy asked as his eyes scanned the room, hoping to find something different than the color white.

“Oh, trust me, I should recognize the mirror’s magic from anywhere,” Mickey said as he looked underneath the coffee table. “Especially since how many times that magic has tried to freeze me…”

“Ya know, I’m starting to notice a pattern with royalty folk,” Kristoff suddenly spoke up, catching everyone’s attention. “You guys really like to hold grudges against the other one. I mean, there’s you guys and Hans,” he gestures to the sisters before looking over at Mickey. “And you and that Ice Queen. Is there some secret code that us common folk are not getting that’s ticking you guys off?”

“There’s no secret code, Kristoff,” Elsa said, though she did laugh a little at the absurd idea.

It was then Anna took a quick glance around the room and noticed a problem. “Wait, why are we all in here?” this makes everyone turn their attention to her. “Shouldn’t someone stand outside and be on the lookout for Hans or the guards?”

“Gawrsh, I’m sure Donald and I won’t mind being the lookouts this time,” Goofy immediately volunteered. “Besides, we’re used to being the guards. Right, Donald?” he turns to the shivering duck, whose teeth were chattering from the cold.

“Y-You're the Captain of the Guard, I-I’m the Court Magician, r-remember?” Donald asked before he managed to shrug in spit of his shivering. “B-But I’ll go outside, j-just so I can get away from the cold.”

“Not nice when you’re suddenly in the most annoying temperature in the world, is it?” Riku asked haughtily. His tone made Donald turn and glare at him.

“Oh, be quiet, you! Besides, you have PTSD. This is completely different,” the duck said before he rejoins Goofy in walking out of the Study.

“Oh, wait for me!” Olaf suddenly cried out as he quickly followed after the two animals. “I want to be a lookout too!”

Kristoff’s eyes widen. While he knows the snowman means well, that duck has the temper that was too much, even for that dog friend of his to handle. He didn’t even want to imagine Olaf being the victim of that temper.

“Olaf, wait, maybe I should come with you-!” Kristoff ran after the snowman before the door closed behind him.

It was just the two sisters and the Keyblade wielders left.

“Well, it certainly helps to have more than one lookouts, right?” Anna asked and the only response she got was short nods from everyone left in the room.

With no other interruptions, they went back to searching for the mirror. Mickey and the sisters were busy looking through the bookshelves while the Islanders tried to find anything at the King’s desk - which proved to be difficult than it was supposed to be since the drawers were frozen shut and none of their fire spells had an effect.

The silence, however, was ruined when Elsa decided to speak up. “Hey, Mickey?”

“Hm?” The mouse turned from where he was looking to meet her eyes.

“I was just wondering, Skadi was the ruler of Arendelle, right?” she asked and Mickey took note of the slight hesitation.

“Well, it wasn’t just Arendelle but yes. She ruled most of this land,” he nodded.

“Right, right,” Elsa nodded to herself and it took a second later for Mickey to realize what the Snow Queen was actually trying to ask. “So, is there any chance she-”

“She didn’t have any children,” he answered before she could finish and still continues on despite the fallen look in her eyes. “And she was never married. At that point in her life, she was too far gone to have any connections with other people.”

“Right…” Elsa looked down, her tone now dejected. Anna slowly came over and put a hand on her shoulder to console her.

“I get you’re wondering where your powers came from, Elsa, but none of Skadi’s family members had ice magic either. Maybe you’re like her and just happened to be born with this special gift,” Mickey pointed out.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right…”

Despite the disheartening feeling in her gut, some part of Elsa couldn’t help but feel a little glad she and Skadi weren’t related. If Skadi had lost control of her powers and became a monster because of it, Elsa didn’t even want to imagine that happening to her. It was, sort of a relief to know that she didn’t have the same exact powers of the Ice Queen.

After helping her boys with pulling out the last frozen drawer and finding nothing, Kairi groaned before standing up and making her way towards the gigantic cabinet. “This room isn’t even that big. You think it would be easier finding a mirror in a place like-”

Kairi had been opening the cabinet when she was talking but she abruptly cut herself off when her face nearly ran into what looked to be a- “HAND!”

Her shriek made everyone’s heads turn promptly to Kairi as the girl stumbles away from the cabinet and was already summoning her Keyblade.

“Kairi!” Sora and Riku immediately ran over and summoned their Keyblades as well, the others following behind.

“It’s… It’s…!” Kairi took deep breaths and eventually found herself calming down when she finally noticed that not only was the hand attached to a body but the body was also- “It’s… That… That person’s frozen…”

By then, everyone had already joined her side and were now looking into the cabinet before they, for the lack of better term, froze at what they saw inside.

It was a woman. A woman with medium hair that was put in an upwards spike and appeared to be in her late thirties wearing this long dress with a spiked-up shawl collar, a flowing cape that appeared to be attached to the dress, and strange looking tiara on her head.

She would have looked beautiful if it weren’t for the fact her entire body was encased in ice with her body held in a position of desperately reaching out for something, or someone, with a look of pure fear stuck in her wide eyes.

“Whoa…” Sora muttered as he and friends de-summoned their Keyblades.

“Did Hans put this here?” Elsa asked with shock and disgust in her voice.

“Now I’m really glad I didn’t marry him right away if he actually does have skeletons in his closet,” Anna remarked, the look of horror in her eyes was trying to be masked by her wit.

Mickey didn’t say anything. The only thing he did when his eyes landed on the woman was to take slow, zombie-like steps towards her. His actions were eventually noticed by the others.

“Are you okay, Mickey?” Elsa questioned.

No response from the King.

Riku took a look from his friend to the woman, then back to Mickey. His mind tried to piece together his friend’s reaction to the ice woman but nothing came up.

It only hit him a few seconds later when he took a closer look at the woman.

“That’s Skadi, isn’t it?” his words caught the girls and Sora’s attention as they whipped their head to the tall boy.

“Wait, what?!” Elsa turned her attention back to Mickey, who still hasn’t move. “Mickey, is that true?”

Mickey nodded, his first movement since walking up to the ice woman. “Yeah… This is Skadi…”

His voice was distant like he was in far off world in his own head. They couldn’t see his face but they can only imagine.

“I thought you said she lost her mind when she lost control of her magic,” Anna remarked as she took note of the woman’s face and stance. “She… She just looks like a scared girl…”

“Y-Yeah, she looked like this after we removed her magic,” Mickey hesitantly responded. “It was like looking at that seven-year-old girl again but she was reaching out for somebody to help her in her last moments… Reaching out to me…”

If the room wasn’t already cold then the other occupants would have felt a chill go up their spines.

Anna desperately tried to find a way to get past this awkward silence - how was she supposed to know that the last moments of the Ice Queen was her just being a little girl? - when she noticed something other than the frozen body in the cabinet.

“Hey, look,” she points to the thing she sees, catching everyone’s attention. “There’s the mirror…”

They look over and she was right; the mirror was there, leaning against the frozen body of Skadi.

Mickey was the first one to react as he walks over and grabs the mirror. He turns around to walk over to the five and now they could see the desponded look in his black eyes.

“It’s smaller up close,” Kairi remarked once Mickey reached them. “I’m actually surprised you and Master Yen Sid were able to fit all of that power in this tiny thing.”

“We were even lucky to get it all in the first place,” Mickey pointed out, his tone still far off and his eyes never left the mirror in his hands.

“So, now what?” Elsa asked, her eyes shifting from the mirror to Mickey.

“Go back to Master Yen Sid’s tower and do what the two of us should’ve done all of those years ago,” Mickey paused to allow himself to take a deep breath as he said his next words. “Destroy this mirror once and for all.” 

* * *

“For something that is nearly as dangerous as Elsa’s powers, it doesn’t look that intimidating up close,” Kristoff remarked as they all walk down the stairs they had used to get up to the King’s Study. Mickey was still holding onto the mirror the whole way.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover, Kristoff,” Mickey pointed out, his eyes casting a warily glance at the object in his hands. “Especially with this thing…”

“It’s kind of sad that you guys have to go now,” Olaf spoke up from his place on Kairi’s shoulders. “I didn’t even get a chance to go to the beach with three Islanders. You sure you guys can’t stay in Arendelle while Big Ears and the associates to go off to destroy the mirror?”

“Time works differently in our world, Olaf,” Riku quickly reminded the snowman. “If we stay here now, who knows how long it’ll take for us to leave.”

“Right…” Olaf looked down dejectedly. So much for a Beach Day with his new friends.

“How about this, Olaf,” Kairi begins once they reach the bottom of the stairs where she placed the snowman on the ground. “Once we destroy the mirror, Sora, Riku, and I are going to come back to Arendelle as quickly as we can so the four us can have that Beach Day. Is that alright?”

This seems to certainly bring up the snowman’s mood. “Sure, Kairi!”

“As long as the cold weather’s gone by the time we get back, I’m fine with having a Beach Day,” Riku said with a small shrug.

“Yeah, I’m starting to miss being on the Islands already,” Sora commented right as another chill spread through his body, making shudder and rub his arms to find warmth. “Was not ready for how cold it was going to be here.”

“I still can’t thank you all for your help,” Elsa spoke up. “I don’t what we would’ve done if we didn’t have you guys to help with the Wendigo.”

“Probably would’ve gotten eaten,” Kristoff chimed in.

“Hey, it’s no problem,” despite the chill he was feeling, Sora manages to smile at them. “We’re happy to help.”

“And if there’s any chance you guys come back and Hans is still there, I wouldn’t mind some back up on punching him,” Anna quipped.

Riku lets out a little laugh when he heard this. “After everything that’s happened so far, I want to be first in line.”

His little quip was able to draw a laugh from everyone present. At the same time, Mickey was walking towards the archway that leads to the corridor where the exit was. As he laughed, the mirror in his hands suddenly begins to emit this gray smoke along the edges.

Mickey didn’t notice it until the mirror disappeared from his hands and the gray smoke that took its place suddenly wraps itself around his right wrist. He yells and desperately tries to shake the smoke off. His shout caught everyone’s attention.

“Mickey, what’s- HEY!” Riku was about to run over to his friend when another gray cloud from the first one suddenly latched onto his wrist as well. Before everyone could react, more clouds came and latched onto Sora, Kairi, Donald Goofy, and Elsa as well.

“What’s going on?!” Donald quacked as he and the people who were attacked quickly try to shake the clouds off of them.

Finally, after what a seemed like forever, the gray clouds went away.

But not without leaving a parting gift behind.

“What the heck is that thing?” Kristoff demanded as he and Anna run up to Elsa. At the place where the gray cloud latched onto, there was this black wrist band with a strange glowing blue gem embedded. Looking over at the others who were attacked, they also had the same thing.

“I-I don’t know,” Elsa tried to remove the strange accessory from her wrist only to realize in disbelief that it was stuck. “It won’t come off!”

“Come on!” Sora groaned in frustration as he and the others tried to remove the wristbands from their person but were failing miserably.

A burst of booming laughter suddenly rang through the air, causing everyone to stiffen before whipping their heads up to the staircase they were just on.

Pete and Hans were there at the top, along with a few Heartless at their sides. And, to their surprise, the Mirror of Skadi was in Hans’s hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The cliffhangers have returned! MWAHAHA!


	14. Escape the Castle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With no other choice, our heroes are forced to escape the castle. Leaving others behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lack of update on Saturday. I was busy last week working on a fic for Sora's birthday (March 28th, me and Sora are March buddies!) so I didn't have time to finish the new chapter. If anyone's interested in seeing this angsty birthday fic I made, it's called "Happy Birthday Dear _____". Just in case anyone wants some good hurt and angst.
> 
> So, I took notice that you guys have a theory going on around this theory. I'm not going to confirm or deny anything, I'll just let the story speak for itself.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy the chapter!

“H-He did it again…” Anna stuttered, her eyes never leaving the man on top of the stairs. Suddenly, she felt small, staring up at her worst enemy who obviously had the upper ground, both figuratively and literally.

“Hans!” thankfully, Elsa was one of them who wasn’t frozen by the appearance of their enemies. She shot her hands forward, hoping to summon a mini-blizzard to temporarily blind them and give the rest of them a chance to escape.

But then, to her surprise, nothing happened. She couldn’t feel her magic flowing through hands like it normally would. Instead, she was left with this strange, constricting feeling inside her. Like her hands were bound together when they’re actually not. She tried again but was still met with the same results.

“Hey, what’s going?!” Elsa whipped around to find the Keyblade wielders holding their hands out in front of them, their faces straining with concentration. Sora was the one who spoke up and appears to be grunting with some unseeable effort. “Why can’t I summon my Keyblade?!”

“The same thing is happening to me!” Kairi shrieked as she continues to put her hand forward in some hope of Destiny’s Embrace magically appearing like it always does.

“Ya can’t summon your Keyblades?” Goofy asked in shock. With nods from the four, Donald turns to glare at Pete and Hans as he took out his wand.

“Why, you! Thundaga!” He shouted.

Nothing happened.

Donald’s eyes widen in shock before he began to shake his wand. “Come on! Thundaga!”

Still nothing.

“You might want to save yourselves the embarrassment,” Hans spoke up as he and Pete walk down the stairs, the Heartless trailing behind. “Whatever magic any of you had, it’s completely useless now.”

“I told ya those crystals would come in handy!” Pete barked with laughter.

“Don’t start laughing when you were the one who didn’t think the mirror decoy would work,” the prince shot back.

“Hey, the crystals worked, didn’t they?”

“What did you do to us, Pete?!” Riku shouted as he and his friends continue to try and summon their weapons but to no avail.

“Why, the same thing His Majesty used to subdue that Ice Queen friend of his,” Mickey’s eyes widen before he looks down at the wristband on his right wrist. “We used those magic crystals that suppressed all kinds of magic!”

“Oh no…” hearing the King’s mumble of horror, everyone turns their attention to him.

“You know what these things are?” Elsa asked, holding up the hand that has the wristband.

Mickey nods. “He’s right, we can’t use our magic as long as we have these things on!”

“Oh, magic or no magic, it won’t stop me from punching him in the face!” Anna cried as she tried to make her way over to her ex but was held back by Kristoff.

Hans raises an eyebrow at her attempt. “Well, if that’s the case,” he looks over their heads to the corridor they were about to go down. “Guards!”

At once, guards came pouring out of the corridor seemly from nowhere and made their way over to apprehend the stunned heroes. Two of the guards were men Anna was quick to recognize.

“Liam! Filip! You two are going to be digging reindeer muck by the time all of this is over!” Anna just manages to threaten just as the two guards manage to grab her and Kristoff.

“Yeah, yeah,” Filip mutters as he and Liam tied the couple’s hands behind their backs with rope. It was not long later that Elsa was eventually caught by another guard and had her hands tied.

The others tried to make a run for it but they were blocked by the Heartless getting in the way. With no way of fighting them, it forced the heroes to back away. Unfortunately, the three residents of Disney Castle ended up backing into two guards, one who scooped up Donald and Mickey into his arms while the other grabbed Goofy’s hands and took the dog’s shock as a chance to tie him up.

“Hey, put us down!” Donald quacked in outrage as he fought vigorously against the guard. He manages to get a few good hits on the guy’s face - and while accidentally hitting Mickey in the process - but it did nothing to get the man to let go of them, which was a surprise for anyone who knew the Duck.

Luckily, the Islanders were able to avoid running into the guards by moving to the side when they were trying to get away from the Heartless. Their luck, however, ran out when the three backed into a wall. With Heartless and Guards coming in on both sides, there seemed to be no way for them to escape.

_ Creak _

_ Creak _

Everyone stops with what they were doing to look around in confusion. Even the Heartless stopped to look around in confusion.

_ Creak _

_ Creak _

“What’s making that sound?!” Hans shouted once he finally lost his patience with the noise and his lack of ability to find it.

Goofy was moving his head around to find out where the noise was coming from before he finally looks up in hopes of finding something. His eyes grew wide at the scene above him. “Gawrsh, Olaf!”

Everyone snaps their heads to Goofy before looking up at the spot where the large dog was looking at. Some people found their jaws dropping to the ground when they see the sight of the little snowman hanging onto a gigantic glass chandelier while he slowly took out the safety pins one at a time.

“Olaf?!” the two sisters gasped, which got the snowman’s attention. 

He looks down and waves at all the dumbfounded people below him. “Hi, guys!”

“Olaf, how on Earth did you get up there?!” Kristoff asked. There was no logical explanation for Olaf to get up there since the walls were too vertical for him to climb.

Olaf blinks before he looks at the position he found himself in. “Ya know, I have no idea,” he admits. “But I can tell you how I’m going to get down!” with that, he removes the last safety pin from the chandelier. “Look out below!”

Seeing that the chandelier was going to fall in between them and the people who were trying to capture them, Riku quickly pulls his two friends close together and turned them all around to face the wall. Thankfully, the two were quick to get the message as they pressed themselves against the wall and put their hands over their eyes for protection.

Everyone else just scrambled as far away as they could so they wouldn’t get hit by the upcoming object. Well, the heroes who were captured were forced to move away since the guards themselves were trying to get away.

The chandelier smashed once it hit the ground and pieces of glass went flying everywhere. Olaf was able to bounce to the safety of the stairs when he landed on the ground - although some of the glass did manage to pierce his little snow body. The Islanders tensed when they feel the glass hit their backs but it didn’t pierce anything, thankfully.

The Heartless who were about to capture them weren’t able to escape in time, so they ended up being destroyed the moment the glass stabbed into their very beings. The guards just ended up diving out of the way to avoid the glass.

But in the process, they accidentally let go of the weapons they were planning to use to herd the three Islanders away from the wall; three swords.

The three friends look over when they deemed it safe to look just in time to see the swords slide across the ground, away from the guards. Seeing their chance, the three broke into a run towards the weapons.

Hans was quick to see what they were doing. “You fools! The swords!” the stunned guards managed to look up in time to see their weapons were too far from their reach.

They tried to stand up and head over to the swords but the Islanders were already burrowing past them and picking up the swords.

“I don’t think so!” Riku shouted as he and his friends point the swords at the guards, who tried to sneak up behind the trio. The guards yelped when they see their own weapons being pointed dangerously close to their person.

“H-Hey, take it easy kids!” one of the guards said as he holds his hands up in a surround position.

“Yeah, didn’t your parents ever tell you not to mess with things you’re not supposed to touch at your age?” the other guard says with a little laugh.

That was the wrong thing to say. The glares that were already on the Islanders’ faces instantly darken as they brought the swords closer to the guards, this time to their necks.

“Whoa!”

“Easy!”

“I didn’t mean that!”

All three of the guards shouted, almost reminding the other people present of little girls in the dark. It still did nothing to convince the three to lower the swords.

Pete growls before he yells into the air. “Heartless Squad! Surround them!”

In a flash, more reindeer Heartless appeared and began to close in around the trio. Their eyes shift around uneasily, knowing that they had to defend themselves from the Heartless despite not having their Keyblades but they couldn’t just leave the guards unchecked.

“Leave my Island buddies alone!” everyone turns their heads to see Olaf, brandishing two glass shards in his hands as he walks up behind a Heartless. “I warn ya, I am armed and dangerous!”

Hans shook his head at the snowman’s attempt of being a defender. The Heartless will take care of that pest sooner or later so he just focused his attention on the three Keyblade wielders. While he knew they were currently in a predicament, Hans knew better than to underestimate his opponents so he kept a close eye on them. Just in case they had some kind of trick up their sleeves.

His eyes landed on the younger boy and he had to double check.

That’s… Weird. He’s sure that the kid’s eyebrows were a brunette color. So, why does that piece of hair that’s sticking out of his hat look-?

The answer hit him like a snowball to the face and when it did, he burst into a fit of laughter.

Everyone took the moment to stare at the former prince with confused looks. Even the Heartless stopped trying to encircle the Islanders to stare.

“Well, so much for being a lousy shooter!” Hans said once he caught his breath, his eyes landing on Anna with a triumph look in his eyes. The Princess could only stare back in confusion, not understanding what was going on.

“Tell you what,” Hans now turns his attention to the Islanders. “How about we play a game? I’ll give you three time to run away and escape the castle,” he ignores the outrageous look Pete sends his way and continues on. “No Heartless or guards will chase you in the first five seconds if you decide to run now, but if any of them find you afterward then it’s all over.”

“And why should we trust you?” Riku demanded.

Hans chuckles slightly. “It’s not like you three have much of a choice right now,” he gestures over to the Heartless surrounding them.

He was right. This could be their only chance to get away. But everyone else was still held hostage by the other guards and they couldn’t just leave them.

“Take the deal!” Donald suddenly shouted, making the three snap their heads towards him.

“But, what about you guys?” Sora protested.

“Just get outta here!” Goofy urged.

“He’s right,” Elsa said, drawing their attention to her. “Just take Olaf and run! We’ll be fine.”

“Go!” Anna shouted and Kristoff nodded his head at them so they know it was alright.

Again, the Islanders were still hesitant to leave. Riku looks over to Mickey, who caught his eye and nod his head. With that resolve, Riku turns to his friends and gave them a look. They had to get away, now or never.

“Olaf, come here!” Olaf, who was trying to stab one of the Heartless with the glass but failing miserably - since it kept moving out of the way  -, looks up in shock but quickly waddles over to Kairi’s side.

“We’ll take the deal,” Riku tells Hans, who smiles before snapping his fingers. The Heartless disappeared in a flash.

The three didn’t waste a second running away, Kairi scoping the snowman up into her arms. They scrambled up the stairs, hoping they can make enough distance by the time their time limit is over.

“Get them!” one of the guards shouted but the three had already reached the top and were already closing the gigantic doors behind them. However, the moment they did that, they realized a problem.

The door handles were a handle set. They were was no way for them to lock it and they couldn’t use their Keyblades to do it. So, with no other way of slowing down the guards, the three stood there with their hands on the handles, pulling in the opposite direction the guards were pulling to prevent them from opening the door.

It wasn’t going to last long and they knew it.

As the Islanders were busy trying to keep the door opening, Olaf manages to remove himself from Kairi’s arm, allowing the girl to grip the handle with both hands and him to look around to find something to block the door.

His eyes land on the suit armor on display next to the door. In particular, his eyes land on the sword in the suit’s hand.

“Guys! I have an idea!” he said as he ran over to the armor. With his little twig arms, Olaf tries to dislodge the swords from its place within the armor’s grasps. To the snowman’s surprise, the sword gave away easily. Probably because there’s nobody inside the armor to properly hold the sword. Olaf then adjusted his hands to properly grip the sword and drag it over to the teens.

Or, at least, tried to. The sword was a lot heavier than Olaf previously believed so he was forced to drag it across the ground.

Kairi looks over to see what the snowman was doing and her eyes lit up when she saw the sword. “Oh! Pass it over here!”

It took a bit but Olaf was able to bring the sword within grabbing distance. Kairi didn’t waste a second of grabbing it and sticking the weapon through the two handles.

The three let go and took several steps back as they watch the door rattle from the force the guards were using to get it open. But it seems like the sword was doing its job as the door did not fly open when the teenagers let go.

“Go, go, go!” Riku yelled and the four didn’t hesitate to run down the halls. That sword may hold them back now but it won’t forever. 

* * *

“What’s going on up there?!” Hans demanded as he watched the guards trying to force the doors to open by slamming their bodies against them.

“They blocked the door!” one of them shouted.

Pete growls to himself. “How did they do that when they don’t even have their Keyblades?!”

Meanwhile, the heroes were standing a little ways away from the two, still being held by the guards who captured. The boys did several attempts to escape - Donald even blowing his infamous temper tantrum to hit the guard, and Mickey, in the face - but each attempt failed. So now they were forced to watch the guards try to break through the door to get to their friends.

Anna was still reeling over what Hans said to her in her head. Normally, anything Hans would say to humiliate her would cause her to fire right back but the way he said it was different. It was like he was proud of something that only he knew about and was mocking her for not knowing. Wait, no. It wasn’t just her he seemed to be mocking. He was originally looking at Sora before he looked over to her.

Unable to handle these unanswered questions in her head anymore, Anna finally found the opportunity to ask. “What did you mean earlier?”

Hans turns to her with a disinterested look. “Hm?”

“You were implying something when I called you a lousy shooter,” she clarifies. “So, what was it? Because you definitely are since you clearly missed Sora back on the mountains?”

Maybe Anna shouldn’t have said that last bit. She didn’t like that smile growing on Hans’s face, it gave her the creeps.

“So, if I really did miss the kid back on the mountains, does that mean the white lock of hair I saw is his natural hair color?”

Just like that, Anna felt herself fading from reality.

“W-What…?” she stuttered out, her voice barely above a whisper. Right next to her, Elsa and Kristoff were looking at Hans, expressions laced with horror as the realization came to them as well. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were looking back and forth between the three and the Prince, not understanding the exchange that is currently happening right before them.

“What are you talking about?” Donald eventually asked. “Sora doesn’t have any white hair; he’s a brunette!”

“Really?” Hans draws, the smile on his face growing more well-pleased. “Then I guess I didn’t miss at all!”

“Gawrsh, what’s he talkin’ about, Anna?” Goofy turned his attention towards the strawberry-blonde-haired princess in hopes of finding some answers.

He did not expect to meet the teary eyes of Anna, who sniffed as she whispers, “I’m so sorry…” 

* * *

“Where exactly are we going?!” Kairi shouted as the four tore through the halls, doing their best to create as much distance from the guards as possible. Olaf was a little ways behind them, his little legs working hard to catch up to them.

“Finding a place to escape!” Riku responded.

“But this castle is huge!” Sora protested. “How are we supposed to find anything without Anna and Elsa?”

“Just keep running until we find a way outside!”

“Guys, wait up!” Olaf cried as the three ran through a doorway, his feet still trying to keep up. “I still have short stubby legs!”

The snowman turned his head slightly to look over his shoulder in case they were any guards behind him, but he found himself stopping in his tracks when he noticed something in mid-turn. It was a window.

But not just any window, the same window he used to help Anna escape the scary icicles that surrounded them all those years ago. An idea formed in his mind as he thought back to the Islanders’ earlier conversation and a smile grew on his face.

“Hey, guys!” he calls down to the hallway the three went down. “I think I found a way out!”

“Olaf?” the snowman didn’t bother to reply as he was already racing towards the window as fast as his little legs could carry him. With his twig arms, Olaf manages to lift himself on the window stool before he began to slam his body against the glass.

By the time the Islanders had turned back and ran over to the snowman, Olaf had already forced the window to open. Like all those years ago, Olaf almost lost his balance but was able to keep himself from tipping too far by grabbing onto the window.

Gee, deja vu much?

“Olaf!” Kairi and Sora shouted as the two quickly pull Olaf away from the ledge, allowing him to properly stand on the stool.

“That was a rush!” the little guy remarked, which manages to draw nervous chuckles from the two Islanders. Riku was still staring at him like he had grown a second head. “Anyway, come on!”

He grabs Kairi’s hand and helps her on top of the stool. Olaf gestures for Sora and Riku to join them and they did, after shooting each other hesitant looks.

Only when the three were standing on the stool together they were able to notice the cold wind blowing in their faces and the long drop in front of them.

“Uh, Olaf?” Riku began, looking down at the distance between here and the ground with a hint of nervousness. “How exactly are we supposed to get down from here?”

“We slide!”

“What?!” the three snapped their heads towards the snowman to with wide eyes.

“Don’t worry, there’s enough snow for all of us to slide down on!” Olaf points to something close to their feet, making the Islanders look down. His words were true, there was snow that covered the entire area, forming a slope that leads to the courtyard below.

A really steep slope.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Sora asked, rubbing his hands together. Was the wind colder than it was before?

“Just try to imagine it as a sand dune!”

The three froze and sharply turn their heads towards him. “That’s not any better!”

Before Olaf could say anything else, voices from the hallway got their attention. They were faint, due to the roaring wind, but they could still hear them.

“I think they went this way!”

“Well, hurry up already!”

It was the guards.

“Okay, okay…” Kairi whispers to herself as she slowly lowers her body down until she was sitting at the very edge. The boys followed behind, somehow managing to sit together despite the limited space the stool was giving them. With a reassuring nod from Olaf and hesitant but equally assuring ones from Riku and Sora, Kairi pushed herself forward with a shriek.

This was way worse than the sand dunes back at home!

She could faintly hear the yells of Sora and Riku behind her over her own shrieks as she tries to right herself sliding down. Since the slope was so steep it also went down in a zig-zag formation. Kairi wasn’t prepared for the number of turns she had to endure and would try to correct her position so she doesn’t lie on her stomach.

Thankfully, it wasn’t long later that Kairi found herself slowing down. After adjusting her position, Kairi was able to see that she was reaching the soft snow in the courtyard and not diving into a mogul like before.

She reached the ground safely in a sitting position. Not long after, Sora’s descent eventually slowed down until he stopped to her right. Riku was the last one of them to finally slow to a stop.

“See? That wasn’t so bad!” Olaf’s voice came from behind them, though it was muffled slightly, for some reason. The three turned their heads and were met with a strange sight.

Olaf’s entire body was rolled up into a giant snowball. The only things that were visible were his head and his twig arms. Now they know why Olaf’s voice sounded muffled, his cheeks were squished from the amount of snow covering his body.

“There they are!” the four stiffen before looking up at the window they slid down from. They could vaguely make out people wearing green at the window but they could definitely see that someone was pointing at them from there.

“Okay, time to go!” Riku yelled as he quickly brought himself to his feet before helping Sora and Kairi. The three made a break for it while Olaf was able to shake off extra snow on him before following them.

The three had already run through the gates and were speeding down the bridge, Olaf was about to follow after them when he heard it.

“OLAF!”

The snowman found himself halting his tracks, his head darting around to find out where that faint voice came from. It was faint, due to the wind, but it almost sounded like-

“OLAF!”

“Anna?” Olaf whispered, wondering how he could hear her voice when the last time he saw her she was captured by those scary looking guys.

“OLAF!” the voice continued, but now it was growing fainter. “TELL...RA...OZE...ART…!”

Olaf’s eyebrows scrunched up together in confusion. What? What was Anna trying to say? “Oze Art?” he guessed. But no, that didn’t sound right. Gosh, was she really trying to play a game of twenty questions now out of all times?

“Olaf!” a different voice spoke up. This time, it was behind him, prompting Olaf to turn around and see Kairi run up to him. “Come on, we have to go!”

He nodded and allowed Kairi to pick him up before she began to run down the bridge with him in her arms.

Olaf still couldn’t help but think about the voice he heard earlier. If that was really Anna, what was it that she was trying to tell him so badly?

Oh, well. He’ll figure it out eventually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, Olaf, little buddy... You're gonna find out what she means. Real soon.


	15. Kristoff's Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After escaping near-capture, the Destiny Trio and Olaf begin to plan their next course of action. Meanwhile, Anna continues to wallow in guilt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in this chapter. As you can see, it turned out to be longer than I anticipated (it was 16 pages on Google Docs). Not only that but I watched Avengers: Endgame yesterday and... I was an emotional wreck, to be honest.
> 
> But I'm back and I hope you guys enjoy the chapter.

Once the guards were able to break through the door, Hans had ordered the other guards that stayed behind to restrain them to bring them down to the dungeons. “Where you’ll await your fates,” the smug jerk had said. That was the last time Anna saw him before the guards dragged them away.

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were silent throughout the whole escort. They’ve been like this ever since Anna was forced to explain what was going to happen to Sora. She didn’t have to explain too much to Mickey, thankfully, since he’s already seen it when he visited Skadi. It didn’t make it any easier explaining it to Donald and Goofy.

She expected Donald to scream at her. Like he did back at the mountains when he thought she was the reason Sora and his friends fell to their deaths. But he didn’t even speak one word to her once she finished. Anna almost couldn’t believe herself that she would rather have the duck screaming in her face instead of giving her the cold shoulder.

Then again, falling was a quicker death. She couldn’t exactly blame him for being silent.

As the guards escorted them down the hall, Anna took a quick glance out the window to stare at the winter season taking over the kingdom when she noticed something other than white out the window.

There was a flash of black, red, blue, yellow, and pink. Right on the ground of the courtyard.

Anna’s mind began to race. This could be her chance to at least warn Sora or someone with him. Sure, he was shivering the last time she saw him but he could still walk and run. That meant he still has enough time.

Making sure that the guard holding her wasn’t expecting anything, Anna took the chance to stomp on his foot with her heel. An unmasculine scream escaped the guard’s mouth as he let go of her in favor of nursing his poor foot. Anna quickly ran over to the window and threw it open.

She could no longer see the teens in her sight but she was able to catch sight of Olaf’s small figure running towards the bridge that leads to the town.

Anna took a deep breath and yelled in the loudest voice she could muster. “OLAF!”

To her relief, Olaf stopped in his tracks. But that relief quickly melted away when he didn’t turn to her direction.

“OLAF!” she tried again, but the snowman still looked in every direction but hers.

Rough hands suddenly grabbed her by her shoulders and Anna knew she didn’t have much time left so she decided to blurt out what needed to be said. “OLAF! TELL SORA HANS FROZE HIS HEART! HIS HEART IS FROZEN!”

That was all she could get out before the guards pulled her back, one of them slamming the window shut.

“Nice try,” the guard said. “But it’s still to the dungeons with you!”

Anna could do nothing but let the guards pushed her forward. She only hopes that her words were able to reach Olaf and he could at least warn Sora about the danger he was in. But some part of her believed that Olaf wasn’t able to hear her correctly in time and that kept her from being smug about it.

Elsa and Kristoff were giving her sympathy looks, knowing that she did try her best. Anna smiled back in gratitude.

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy still didn’t look at her. 

* * *

“Wait, slow down!” Kairi gasped. “Too much running!”

Even after escaping to the village, the four didn’t find themselves slowing down one bit. They didn’t want to risk being caught by the guards so they kept running. It was probably several minutes later that they found themselves on a path in the woods where the wind didn’t reach and there was less snow.

Sora and Riku complied quickly to her request. After running what seemed like hours, their legs were beginning to burn and all of the air was forced out of their lungs. They had to take a break or else they will collapse.

As the three stopped to catch their breaths, it gave Olaf the chance to run ahead of them. When he realized that they weren’t following him, Olaf stops in his tracks and turns to face them, all three leaning forward with their hands on their knees to pant.

“Why are you guys stopping?” he demands before running over and pulls on Kairi’s arm in an attempt to get her to move. “Come on! We can still run for at least one more mile!”

“Oh, no!” Riku protested, his voice hoarse from being out of breath. “If we run another mile, we’ll drop dead!”

“Just…” Sora barely had time to finish his sentence when his body finally gave out, causing him to sit on the ground, his words coming out as short gasps. “Let us rest… Please…”

Olaf looks the three over with a confused frown on his face. Gee, human biology was weird. Maybe it was a good thing he didn’t have any lungs. Looking over their crouched figures, Olaf scanned the area for any large figures coming towards them like a stampede of reindeers.

Thankfully, he didn’t hear anything other than the heavy breathing of his new friends.

“Well, I don’t hear any large stomping feet coming towards us so I guess we can walk from here,” he suggested to the teens, who all seem to like that idea with the way they nod their heads.

“Walking’s good,” Kairi breathes out before complying. Riku helped Sora up from the ground and caught up with Kairi and Olaf.

“So, you guys got any idea on what we should do next?” Olaf spoke up after a few minutes of walking. By then, the three had finally caught their breath and were now walking normally instead of acting like they were about to drop dead any second.

“Well, first things first, we need to find a way to get these bracelets off,” Riku holds up the arm with the glowing crystal attached. “As much as I like the idea of going back, we’re not exactly best with dealing Heartless without our magic.”

“You guys still can’t get them off?” Olaf asked as he looked over to the other two, who were attempting to slip the wristbands off but to no avail.

“No,” Kairi grunted when her fingers slipped. “And we still can’t summon our Keyblades, which is annoying because it feels like a rope is tied around me but it’s not!”

“Well, why don’t I give it a try?” Olaf suggested, which earned him looks from the three.

“Uh, I don’t know if that’s going to work, Olaf,” Riku said. “If we can’t get them off, I don’t know if it’ll work that well with you.”

“But, hey, you can give it a go, if you want,” Sora said as he stopped walking and bent down to offer his arm to the snowman. Riku and Kairi stop as well, curious to see where this was going to go.

Olaf rubs his two stick hands together. “Okay,” he mutters before he grabs onto the black wristband. Planting his little snow feet firmly on the ground, Olaf moved backward, heaving with all of his might to get the wristband to slip off.

He was met with no results. The wristband still held firmly around Sora’s wrist, the blue crystal emitting a little light.

“Oh, come on!” he groans before adjusting his grip, his fingers gently brushing against the crystal. “This should be like the time that proposal ring got stuck on Sven’s antlers!”

The three Islanders decided to not to comment on that last bit and continue to watch Olaf try to get the wristband off. Their concerns, however, grew when they notice Olaf’s outline glowing a soft blue. Just like the crystal.

“Uh, Olaf?” Kairi started but then Olaf’s grip started to slack and his expression turn from scrunched up determination to a loopy smile with heavy-lidded eyes.

“Hey, guys,” he slurs, giving them a small wave with one hand. “Did I ever told you how weird your hairs are? I mean, silver, spiky and short? W-Who came with that?!” he chuckles to himself. “You guys are strange…”

The three didn’t know what to say or to think of Olaf’s sudden change in behavior. Sure, they were probably used to some of his strange habits by now but this one definitely tops it all. Sora kept his eyes on the snowman, right at the time he began to notice water slowly drip from Olaf’s pointy nose.

“Olaf, you’re melting!” his outburst caught his friends’ attention and Riku’s jaw dropped while  Kairi couldn’t hold back a gasp when they see Olaf slumping from all the snow dripping off him.

“Oh, I am, aren’t I?” he stumbles over his words, his tone not at all concern at the fact he was turning into liquid. “Funny, usually my little flurry would come by now. Oh, well…”

Sora couldn’t take it anymore and jerked his arm away from Olaf’s hand.

At that, the outline glow disappeared and Olaf instantly returned to his normal shape. Olaf blinks before he rapidly shook his head.

“Boy, was that a head rush!” the three sighed in relief. Now, that was an Olaf they were used to.

“Okay, so you’re not touching these anymore,” Riku said as he walked over to some area on the path, his eyes scanning the ground. “Maybe we could find a rock or something to break these things or something.”

“Do you really think that’s going to break them?” Kairi quirked an eyebrow at him but she joined his side nonetheless. Sora tried to follow right after her but was stopped by a sudden sharp pain in his heart, knocking the breath out of him and instinctively cause him to clutch his chest. After a few short breaths, the pain faded away, giving him a moment to relax.

But a second later it was replaced by this horrible chill that took over his body.

Gee, he knew it was cold but did it have to shake him to the core like that?

Rubbing his arms together to find some kind of warmth, Sora stood up with no problems and walks over to help his two friends, who were still trying to find a rock they can use to break the crystals. As the three were doing that, Olaf began to walk a little away from them, lost in his own thoughts.

He still couldn’t get his mind off of what Anna was trying to tell him. What was it again? Chosen Dart? No, that didn’t sound right either. Gosh, he wished Anna could’ve said what she was trying to say a little louder. That way he didn’t have to worry over this possible life-threatening situation he doesn’t know about.

Maybe the answer will come to him in time. He certainly hopes so.

Whatever thoughts Olaf had further on were suddenly halted by a small speck of white falling out of the corner of his eye. Then another one came, this time right in front of him, then another. Pretty soon, Olaf found himself in the middle of a small flurry storm.

This is weird. Everything else wasn’t covered in snow and he couldn’t hear Silver complain how cold it must’ve gotten so what was going on? Olaf looks up in hopes to find his answer and secretly prays that it wasn’t Hans’s creepy new magic.

Oh… It was just his personal flurry. He’s probably already too far from the enchanted weather so his flurry automatically appeared to prevent him from melting in the warmer area. But wait, if they were close to a warmer area, then didn’t that mean-?

An excited gasp escaped his lips. “Guys, guys!” Olaf shouted over to the three, where Riku was able to find a rock and had it raise over his head to bring it down on the crystal when Olaf’s voice stopped him in mid-swing.”I know someone who can help us get those crystals off you!”

“You do?” Sora and Kairi’s expressions each held a look of curiosity. Riku, on the other hand, just looks at Olaf with a confused expression on his face but he did lower his arm to listen.

“I do!” Olaf insisted. “It’s Kristoff’s family! They’re magic experts and they live near here! Come on, I’ll show you the way!”

“Kristoff’s family?” Riku asked incredulously. “How does a mountain man’s family know anything about getting these things off us?”

“Just come on!” And just like that, Olaf was already running down a path that leads into a thicker part of the woods, one that strays from the path they were previously on. Not wanting to lose him, the three immediately booked it after him.

“Slow down!”

“Olaf! WAIT!”

“We said no more running!” 

* * *

Anna nearly tripped over her feet when the guards shoved her, Kristoff, and the others into a rather large cell. She turned around when she heard the bar doors slamming shut, ready to give the guards a piece of her mind when she noticed something that made her cut herself off.

Elsa was on the other side, still being held by the guards. She wasn’t in the same cell with them.

“Elsa!” she quickly rushes over to the bars. “Hey, what are you doing with my sister?!”

“His Majesty says that the Ice Witch will be put in a separate cell from the rest of you lot,” Liam answered, not looking sorry at all when he sees the distressed faces of the sisters. “Don’t know why, but he says he’s got something planned for her. Best say your goodbyes now.”

Anna could feel herself panicking when the guards holding Elsa began to drag her away. “No, no, no!” she desperately tries to pry the bars open with her bare hands but when she didn’t have any luck, she settled for reaching a hand out through them. “ELSA!”

“ANNA!” Elsa’s cry was as desperate as hers but the two couldn’t do anything but stare at the other helpless as Elsa was dragged further down the hallway until Anna couldn’t see her anymore.

Her legs gave out from underneath her, unable to hold her weight anymore. At this point, Anna couldn’t hold back the sobs that were building up ever since the revelation of Sora’s fate was thrown carelessly into her face.

This was supposed to be a fun day, Anna tearfully reflected. The Fall Festival was going well and everyone in the kingdom was happy. Everything should’ve gone well today. But then Hans shows up, with this terrifying mirror and these dark creatures, attacking the Kingdom before it finally froze over just like the day of Elsa’s coronation.

The weather had lowered down to a temperature that was even colder than Elsa’s magic, a few people have died because of Hans, and now an innocent person was going to die because of her reckless mistakes.

Anna couldn’t help but let a bitter laugh escape her throat. How could she believed that someone like Sora could work for someone like Hans? Kristoff was right, she did end up being a creepy stalker. Those three were just kids.

Kids… Sora was only a kid. A kid who looked like he was brought into a fight too soon. A kid who didn’t waste a second pushing her out of the way of incoming danger. A kid who was about to die soon because she was too careless. A kid who was too kind for his own good.

A kid who doesn’t even he realize he’s about to die. Anna didn’t want to imagine his face when he realizes, let alone Riku and Kairi’s.

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy’s reactions were enough.

A hand suddenly touches her shoulder and, at first, Anna thought it was Kristoff trying to comfort her but when she turns to look she couldn’t keep the surprise out of her face when she saw Mickey standing there.

“It’ll be alright, Anna,” he reassures her, the first words he’s said since the revelation. “From what I’ve seen, Elsa can take care of herself. I’m sure whatever Hans has planned for her she can find her way out of it.”

Anna sniffs as she rubs her eyes before giving the mouse a small smile. “Thank you, Mickey…”

Mickey gives her a smile in return. “Gosh, it’s no problem!”

The smile slowly fell from her face as Anna remembers the reason why Mickey didn’t talk to her before. “I’m sorry, by the way,” she begins. At Mickey’s confused expression, she elaborates. “About Sora, I mean…”

Now Mickey’s face falls back into that despondent gaze he’s had ever since the revelation. She could vaguely make out a small noise from Donald in the background, probably something close to a growl. It still didn’t stop her from trying to apologize.

“I really, really didn’t mean for this to happen. I didn’t even know he was following me when I tried to look for Hans. If I had known he was hit, I would’ve gotten him help as soon as I could. B-But he was acting like he didn’t get hit so I just believed him but then again, he never did say he was hit or not - that should’ve been a red flag, really - but I just-!”

“Anna, calm down!” this time, it was Goofy who spoke up. “We know it’s not your fault, Sora’s known to do something like this all the time!”

Anna stops her rambling when she heard that. They… They weren’t angry at her?

“Y-You guys aren’t mad?” she asked in disbelief.

“I’m mad!” Donald quacked, his outburst causing everyone in the cell to jump out of shock. Upon seeing the glaring faces of Mickey and Goofy, Donald quickly elaborates, “I’m mad cause you actually believed Sora when he said he’s fine when there was a blast that could’ve killed him!”

Anna’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor.  _ That’s  _ what he was so mad about?

“Never believe anything Sora says that involves his health!” Donald continues with his tantrum but Anna decides to ignore it.

“So, you’re really not mad at me?” she asked the two sensible animals. Her stare of disbelief only grew she sees them nod their heads.

“We know ya didn’t mean ta put Sora in any danger, Anna,” Goofy said. “You were just upset with that Hans fellow. Besides, even if it was someone else, Sora would’ve done the same thing. It’s just in his nature to care,” Goofy’s face falls into a small frown. “Sometimes, I think he cares a little  _ too  _ much…”

Anna didn’t know what to say about that last part. She doubts anything she could say right now could help at the moment.

“So,” it was Kristoff who spoke up. “What now? I mean, does anyone have any ideas on what we should do next?”

All he got was a helpless shrug from Mickey. “Gosh, I really don’t know,” the king admits. “My friends and I can’t use our magic to get us out of here and we have no idea what Hans is planning for Elsa, so there’s not much we can do at the moment. Until something pops up, I guess we’ll have to wait for the others to come up with something.”

“And what about Sora?” everyone felt their bodies freezing when Kristoff asked the question they were all too afraid to ask. “What happens if he’s… You know-?”

“Sora was able to run the last time we saw him,” Mickey pointed out before Kristoff could finish. “If he was close to freezing to death, he would’ve had trouble to even walk around. Besides, Hans said he only saw one lock of Sora’s hair turning white, that could mean anything!”

“And Riku and Kairi wouldn’t let Sora freeze like that if they found out what happened,” Goofy added in. “They’ll do their best ta do something in case Sora gets any worse.”

Anna wished she could share their optimism about Sora’s situation. And while she had no doubts that Kairi and Riku would do their absolute best to save him, she knew that it had to be Sora’s own actions that can save him.

But what act of true love could Sora do out there that can save him? 

* * *

“For the love of everything, slow down!” Riku all but screamed once he caught up to Olaf and quickly grabbed the snowman’s arm to stop him from running any further. “How many times do I have to tell you that?”

Not long after Riku caught the snowman, Sora and Kairi came running up behind him. Both were out of breath and panting to calm their racing hearts. “Finally!” Kairi gasps as she and Sora slow to a stop, both of them leaning against their knees to catch their breaths.

“But guys, we’re here!” Olaf announces once Riku let go of his arm. “This is where Kristoff family lives! Now we can ask them to get those wristbands off of you!”

It took a few seconds for the Islanders to fully understand what Olaf just said - mostly because of the fact Sora and Kairi were still trying to catch their breaths while Riku was too busy glaring at the snowman - before they took the chance to look at their surroundings.

The area was basically a low-leveled rocky terrain with a few steam vents nearby. The only sign of vegetation was pretty much the moss covering the entire area. And they were rocks.

Lots of rocks.

“Kristoff’s family lives here?” Kairi asked, her eyes glancing uncertainly around the terrain.  She didn’t see any indication that someone was living her

It was surprising a lot warmer than the area they were previously in. Probably has something to do with magic, Kairi figured since Olaf did mention that these people were supposed to be magic experts.

Considering it was warm enough, Kairi thought it best to take off her earmuffs and unbutton her jacket so she doesn’t sweat. That enormous amount of running certainly helped to keep her body heated. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Riku finally taking off that ridiculous face mask he insisted on wearing.

Sora didn’t take off his hat, which was surprising because she figured with the wool hat, that agonizing run, and the insane amount of hair he has he would be sweating up a storm by now.

But he just stood there, his hands slowly rubbing against each other as he blew a breath onto them. Like he was cold and trying to warm his hands up.

Why would he still be cold?

“Oh, there they are!” Olaf’s voice broke Kairi out of her thoughts and she snaps to attention. “Hey, Kristoff’s family!”

Kairi turned her head just in time to see Olaf run up to… A bunch of rocks?

She shot a quick glance at Riku and Sora, wondering if they were seeing the same thing. Her eyes met an equally confused Riku’s and he could only shrug helplessly. He didn’t know what to make of this either.

They turn to look at Sora but the boy was too busy staring at the scene in front of him, his jaw slacked and his eyes wide open. He didn’t do anything other than stare at Olaf as the snowman began to converse with the rocks around him.

“It’s so nice to see you all again! Hey, Clay! Did you lose any more weight while I was gone? Oh! Hiya, Ela! You’re growing bigger and bigger every time I come and visit. Well, granted, the others and I only ever show up is when there’s a crisis, so that explains the huge gap of visits-”

“So,” Riku’s whispers so the snowman doesn’t hear as he addresses Kairi, their eyes never leaving the scene in front of them. “Do you want to break this down to him gently or should I just go over there and tell him?”

That was enough to snap Kairi out of the flabberghasted expression she had. “Wait, what?”

“He’s talking to  _ rocks _ , Kairi…”

“And just what exactly are you going to tell him when you get over there?”

“Well…”

“Wait, I know that tone,” Kairi cut him off before glaring at the older boy. “You are NOT going to tell Olaf that those are rocks like how you told Sora that Santa Claus doesn’t exist!”

“Hey, I was proven wrong on that anyway!” Riku protested.

“He cried for three nights, Riku!”

“Look, if you don’t want me to tell him then why don’t you go over there?”

“Why me?! Why not Sora?”

“Look at him! It looks like his brain just shut down from all of this.”

Kairi looks over at her other friend and couldn’t help but agree; he’s still staring at Olaf with that goofy expression on his face. “Okay, fair point. But what if-?”

“Hey, guys?” Riku and Kairi cut their whisper/shouting match off when Olaf addressed them, their eyes now focusing on the snowman, who was looking at them with a concerned expression. “You okay back there?”

“Uh, yeah!” Kairi calls back, trying to keep her voice as cheerful as she could so he didn’t question it. “Yeah, we’re fine! Just… Sort of nervous to meet the big family!”

Olaf just stared at her for a few seconds. “You guys think I’m crazy, don’t you?”

“W-What?” Kairi laughed out her nerves. “No! Why would… Why would we think that?”

“Sora looks like his brain got shut off,” was the reply.

Dang it, Sora!

“Oh, for the love of- Alright,” Riku steps up with a shake of his head. “Olaf, those are rocks that you’re talking to. They’re inanimate objects, which means they can’t talk back.”

“Uh… Sorry to rain on your parade, Silver, but these aren’t rocks. They’re Kristoff’s family,” Olaf said it slowly like he was the one who had to break down a disillusioned person’s fantasies. Like they were the ones who were crazy.

Kairi didn’t know if she should feel bad, insulted, or confused by all of this.

“They’re rocks, Olaf!” Riku roared, the day’s events driving his patience thin before he gestured towards the still-shocked Sora. “Even Sora knows that and he’s still shocked by the fact you’re talking to those lifeless slabs!”

Olaf gasps as if someone had just uttered a very naughty word in front of him as he wraps his twig arms around a nearby rock. “Don’t listen to him, Ela,” he whispers to the rock even though it was loud enough for the teenagers to hear. “He’s just in a bad mood because of the cold…”

That manages to snap Sora out of his trance. The boy shook his head as he blinks rapidly to get his head back in order. When his eyes land on Olaf still cradling a rock in his arms, Sora slowly starts to back away.

“Uh… I think I’m gonna step out, for a bit,” the boy mutters before he fully turns around to walk away, nearly breaking into a run at the speed he was going.

Honestly, Riku and Kairi couldn’t blame him.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Olaf cried when he saw Sora walking away. “Sora, it’s not what you think!”

But his voice didn’t stop Sora from his fast-walking away from the center of the valley. Obviously, the only thing the spiky-haired boy could think about was getting the heck out of here. As much as he loves the little guy, he really needs to find a place to wrap his head around everything and nothing was going to stop him from walking out of here.

Well, nothing except those rocks that were moving on their own.

Sora stopped in his tracks, his eyes darting around at all the rocks. Riku and Kairi were confused about why their friend suddenly stopped when they, too, saw the rocks move out of the corner of their eyes. The three could only stare at their surroundings dumbfoundedly as the rocks continue to shake back and forth like there was an earthquake but the ground underneath their feet was completely still.

Then all the rocks began to roll forwards. Towards the center where Olaf was standing. And while the snowman looked a little too excited to have these seemingly alive rocks come towards him, the Islanders didn’t share that sentiment. On top of the fact that there are  _ rocks _ moving on their own, some of them were rolling towards them and it looked like they weren’t going to move out of the way so the Islanders were forced to try and maneuver around them so they wouldn’t get rolled over.

“Olaf, what’s going on?!” Kairi asked frantically after hopping over one rock that got a little too close. But all she got over the chaos was Olaf’s laughter from all of this. Thankfully, there were no more rocks for the three to hop over, which gave them a chance to whip around to see Olaf surrounding by these alive rocks.

Riku had already brought his sword out while Sora and Kairi’s hands gently brushed for theirs, silently waiting to protect Olaf in case these rocks do something that could potentially harm their friend.

But the rocks didn’t attack Olaf like they expected them to. No, instead, the rocks seem to stand up-

Wait a minute… Those weren’t rocks, they were people!

“It’s Olaf!” one of the little rock people shouted excitedly, which caused all of the other rock people to shout the same thing. Some of them were jumping around like rabbits amongst the loud crowd.

“Hey, guys!” Olaf greeted them all, his eyes scanning each and everyone one of them. “Long time, no see!”

“Olaf, you’ve only been gone for hours,” a female rock person pointed out. Olaf blinks when he heard that.

“Oh, right…”

Sora, still shocked by what just happened, hesitantly calls out. ”Uh, Olaf?”

Before he knew it, thousands of tiny eyes are looking at him. Sora suddenly felt very exposed at that moment.

“Oh, I almost forgot to introduce you guys!” Olaf smacks himself on the head. “Silly snowman… Right! Kristoff’s family, meet my new friends; Sora and Kairi! Oh, and there’s my associate, Riku!”

“Wait, what?” the silver-haired teen snapped out of his shock when he heard that before he realized he still has his sword out and quickly puts it away before those rock people could say anything about it.

The rock people - or, Kristoff’s family, as Olaf put it - blinks at the three once again before one of them shouts, “Olaf’s brought kids!”

All at once, each of Kristoff’s family members began to shout “Kids!” at such loud tone it made all three of them flinch. Suddenly, the three found themselves being pulled forward by a bunch of hands on their clothes.

“W-Whoa!”

“Ah!”

“H-Hey!”

After the chaos that was having tons of hands lifting them off the ground and with lots of voices shouting in their ears, the three found themselves being pushed into the center where Olaf stood, who was completely unaffected by the whole exchange.

After taking deep breaths to calm himself from all of that, Riku took a moment to look at Olaf. “You’re never going to let that decapitation comment go, are you?”

All he got was a shrug in response.

“Oh, look at this one!” one of the female rock people was suddenly at Kairi’s side, incredibly close to her face, startling the poor girl. “Good skin, pretty blue eyes, strong teeth, and oh! Beautiful red hair! She’s like a princess!” her focus then shifts to the boys. “Ooh… So, which one of those fine gentlemen is your Prince Charming?”

With her cheeks turning red, Kairi frantically looks over to Olaf for help. “Uh, Olaf? Shouldn’t we mention the reason why we came to visit?” she asks, desperately hoping to shift the conversation to something else.

“Oh, right!” once again, Olaf smacks himself on the head. “I am not doing well today,” he looks over to the female rock person who was looking at Kairi with a smirk on her face. “Hey, Bulda, can you bring Grand Pabbie here? We kind of have a no-magic problem.”

“Sure, Olaf!” Bulda then cups her hands over her mouth and screams. “Hey, Dad! Wake up! Olaf’s here and he needs some help!”

Not a second after she finished - and possibly making Kairi go deaf early on -, a rock that was slightly larger than the rest and it unrolled to reveal what it appears to be an older rock person - there’s gotta be a better name for these guys.

“Ah, Olaf,” the old rock acknowledges the snowman. “It is nice to see you again so soon,” he turns his gaze over to the Islanders. “And who might you three be?”

“Uh, Riku…” Riku hesitantly spoke up first, his gaze shifting warily amongst the rock people surrounding him and his friends.

“I’m Sora!” the younger boy cheerfully greeted once he got over his shock.

“Kairi…” Kairi said, just as hesitant as Riku was.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Pabbie bows his head in greeting. “Now, what seems to be the problem?”

Riku brought his hand up, showing the old creature the magic-restraining wristband that was still clamped on tightly. “We have these things stuck on our wrists,” the older boy explains, allowing Grand Pabbie to inspect it. “Apparently, they restrain magic and we have no idea how to take them off. We were hoping you would have some idea of getting them off.”

“Well, you are lucky that I recognized these,” Grand Pabbie said before he sighs. “Alas, I am afraid I can not help you.”

The hopeful look the three Islanders had on their faces when Grand Pabbie mentioned he knew what the wristbands were instantly melted away at the last sentence. “But, why?” Sora eventually asked.

“These wristbands are an old form of imprisoning those who have magic and while I, myself, am not under its effects like you three, there is little I can do. The only way for you to remove them is through a special key that I’m sure the person who put these on you has.”

Riku restrained himself from groaning in annoyance in front of this well-respected elder. Just when they thought they found one solution to fix a problem another one adds up on top of the previous one. They just can’t seem to catch a break in this world.

“So, now what?” Kairi asked after a moment of silence.

“The only thing we can do,” Riku sighs. “We head back to the castle and hopefully we’ll come up with a plan by then.”

“But, why the castle? Didn’t you say you didn’t want to go back unless we had magic?” Kairi asked.

“Considering the fact the thing we need to get our magic back is at the castle and the fact all of our friends are trapped there, it looks like we don’t have much of a choice but to go back,” Riku pointed out.

“Thanks for trying to help, Grand Pabbie,” Kairi said to the old creature. “We really appreciate it.”

The old rock person smiles warmly at her. “Anytime, my dear. Anyone who’s a friend of Kristoff is always welcome here.”

“We’ll keep that in mind, come on, Olaf!” Sora calls out to Olaf, who was busy speaking with a few younger-looking rock children. “We’re leaving now.”

“Oh, coming! Bye, Ela!” Olaf waves goodbye to one of the rock children before running after the Three Islanders when they began to walk away. The four were barely out of the sea of rock people when they heard Grand Pabbie frantic voice call out.

“Wait, my boy!” the four whipped around to see the old rock slowly walking up towards them, his eyes completely on Sora. “I nearly forgot to ask, but are you alright?”

Sora looks at him in confusion. “Uh, yeah… Why do you ask?”

“Well, you look far too pale for someone your age should be.”

Grand Pabbie’s words caused the confusion on the Islanders’ faces to only grow. Pale? Sure, while Riku and Kairi are known to be paler than most of the people on Destiny Islands, the same couldn’t be said for Sora. It was plain as day to everyone that Sora had sun-kissed skin to match his Island heritage.

Still, it didn’t stop the two from looking over at their friend to see what prompted Grand Pabbie to ask such a thing.

Their jaws nearly dropped to the floor.

Sora’s skin, as Grand Pabbie described, was pale. Gone was his original sun-kissed skin tone and replaced by Riku’s level of paleness. No, maybe even paler. Like close to Queen Elsa’s.

Sora took notice of his friends’ gaze on him and suddenly began to feel uncomfortable again. “Why are you guys looking at me like that?”

“Grand Pabbie’s right, Sora, your skin is pale!” Sora whips his head over to Kairi when he heard that. His skin? Pale? Sora took the moment to remove his glove a little to reveal his skin. To his surprise, Kairi’s words were correct. His skin had gone down to a very light-toned color, a complete contrast from his normal tan tone.

“That’s weird…” the boy bumbles, not understanding how this could’ve happened.

“Maybe it’s because you’re cold?” Olaf suggested. “You have been shivering for a while.”

Sora thought about it and couldn’t but agree. He has been feeling cold for a while now. He didn’t take notice of it much until he got to the castle, where he felt colder than he previously was outside. Even now, in what his friends say is a warm environment, he still felt really cold.

“Yeah, I guess so,” he confirms Olaf’s thinking before flashing his friends a quick smile. “But don’t worry so much, you guys. I feel fine!”

Well, other than this weird, tingly pain in his heart. But besides that, and the constant chill he’s been feeling, he felt perfectly normal.

Riku and Kairi still kept their gazes on their friend for a few more seconds, their concern very evident. Finally, the two decided to look away since it was clear they couldn’t get anything more than that.

With that resolved, three Islanders and snowman waved goodbye to Kristoff’s family and began to make their way back to the castle.

As he walked, Sora couldn’t help but flinch a tiny bit when he felt another sharp pain in his heart before it was quickly followed by another chill overtaking his body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before any Frozen fans yell at me about not calling the Rock Trolls, well, trolls, hear me out. That scene was mostly in the Destiny Trio's point of views. So, on top of my headcanon that the Destiny Isles' culture is a mixture of Hawaiian and Japanese, trolls look very different from the rock trolls we know in Frozen.


	16. The Horrible Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Hans begins his plans with Elsa, the Destiny Trio and Olaf make a horrifying discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AT LAST! After so many chapters, we're finally to the idea that created this story! I'm sure most of you guys have already figured it out by now. GAH, I'm so happy to finally get to this revelation. It's been eating me up inside for so long!
> 
> Unfortunately, I have an announcement to make; I am going to temporarily put this story on hold after posting this chapter. The reason for this is because before I started this story, I was in the middle of two other stories, one of them I was close to being done with before Kingdom Hearts 3 revealed the Frozen Trailer.
> 
> It's safe to say that it inspired the idea I had buried within me for a long time so I started writing as soon as I could. I didn't want to lose any inspiration for writing this story so I prioritize this over my other two stories. But I've been thinking a lot lately and decided since one of my stories is so close to being done, I would just head over and finish it.
> 
> This, temporarily, puts this story on hold. But never fear, the story that I will finish has nearly two chapters that need to be work on. As soon as I'm done with that story, I'll come back and work on this alongside the other story I was working on before this.
> 
> Until then, enjoy this chapter!

Elsa paced back and forth in her cell. It was a small, excluded room with no windows. There was a bed in place of the usual clot she would find in a normal cell. This cell was obviously made for higher authorities who committed treason on the land. Funny how Hans didn’t think to put her here the first time years ago.

She definitely wouldn’t have escaped this place. These walls didn’t lead to the outside world.

Elsa was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound the door being unlocked. Whirling around, Elsa tensed when she sees the door to her cell opening to reveal the guards who put here and Hans, standing there with a smug smile on his face.

“I assume there’s a reason for this visit?” she asked, hoping to get straight to the point.

“All business with you then, that’s fine,” Hans shrugs as he steps into the cell, making Elsa tense. “It’s better than having your sister scream at my face every second.”

“You deserve it,” Elsa didn’t miss a beat. “Now tell me; why did you bring me here?”

If possible, that smug smile grew bigger as he begins to pace around the cell. “Well, to start with, it’s no brainer that I’m going to be going to be King of Arendelle very soon,” Elsa couldn’t help but roll her eyes at this. “But in order to make sure that I will remain on the throne, I need allies. Allies who can trust me to rule over a kingdom and not start a war with me. Of course, using Skadi’s mirror to send the Kingdom into another Eternal Winter and freezing almost half of Arendelle’s population doesn’t help my case.”

“You think?” Elsa remarked. Hans shot her a glare before continuing.

“So, I need to find a way to get Arendelle’s allies and every other kingdom to trust me. Then I figure it out; why not put everything that’s been happening today on you? I mean, it’s not like anybody would question it, you did do this once nearly two years ago. Who’s to say that this wasn’t you?”

“Plenty of people who saw you freeze their loved ones right in front of them,” the Queen shot back. She’ll admit, it would’ve been a clever plan; she was the only known Arendelle citizen to have Ice Magic and, if Hans played his cards right, she would be the one to blame for this Winter. However, she was able to notice that single flaw; there were witnesses to his destruction.

“You’re right!” Elsa flinched when he shouts that in the most excited tone she’s ever heard him used. “There has been plenty of people who saw me freeze the citizens of Arendelle. However, there’s one incident where none of your loyal citizens saw me attack someone. Heck, even I didn’t know about it until I saw that lock of white hair!”

For a moment, Elsa didn’t understand what Hans was trying to imply before she remembers what he said at the staircase.

“Sora…” she mumbles under her breath but Hans was able to hear it.

“Oh, is that his name? All I can get from that overgrown cat was ‘brat’,” Hans remarked so callously that it sparked a rare feeling of rage inside her.

“He’s a child, Hans,” she growls. “Have you sunk so low that you would bring innocent children into your pitiful attempt of revenge?”

“Hey, to be fair, I was only trying to freeze your sister. He just got in the way,” he shrugged, making the rage inside her grew - if it weren’t for this stupid bracelet, she probably would’ve frozen this entire cell by now. “But it played out well in my favor; one victim of ice magic who isn’t an Arendelle citizen. Oh, not to mention there were no real Arendelle citizens to witness me attacking him so it makes it easy for me to pin the blame on you.”

“But what about his friends?” she questioned. “Three of them know you attacked him and I doubt they, Kairi, and Riku will be silent over this if Sora freezes over.”

“And you’re right!” Elsa flinched once again. “Of course, they wouldn’t be silent about this! Their friend is dead and they want vengeance against the man who caused it. But, what if there to keep those freaks silent? Permanently.”

It took a second for Elsa to fully grasp what he’s trying to say. “You’re going to kill them…”

Then, to her surprise, he shook his head.

“No, I’m not,” Hans suddenly takes out a bottle from his jacket. “But you are.” 

* * *

It was official; Sora finally understands why Riku hates the cold so much. And that concept actually sent the first non-cold shiver

It was a while before the four of them found their way back to the Winter Wonderland that is Arendelle. Immediately, once he stepped foot into the snow, Sora was assaulted by a cold wind blowing into him, making his body tremble more than it already has.

“Is it me or has it gotten colder than it was before?!” Sora yells to his friends over the wind, who somehow managed to walk a little ahead of him.

“I think it’s just you,” Olaf said from his place on Sora’s shoulder just as Riku and Kairi turned around to face their shivering friend.

“Sora, it hasn’t gotten any colder than it already has,” Kairi lightly pointed out.

“And why are you the one complaining about it?” Riku asked. “You know out everyone here,  _ I’m _ the one that should be complaining if it’s gotten colder or not.”

Sora didn’t give him an answer. Mostly because he was afraid to make Riku’s already sour mood worse. With that, the two resumed their trudge through the deep snow. Sora took a step forward to follow them-

Only to have his leg give out underneath him, causing Sora to fall face-first into the snow.

“Whoa! That was a rush,” Olaf chuckles lightly to himself. His smile, however, fades when he notices that Sora hasn’t moved for more than a few seconds. “Sora?” he pokes the boy’s head a few times. “Hey? Are you alright?”

Sora didn’t respond.

“Uh-oh,” Olaf whips his head up. “Guys? Porcupine down!”

This makes the two friends stop and shoot each other confused looks. “Porcupine?” Riku asked before he and Kairi turned around to see what caught the snowman’s concern.

Their hearts drop their stomachs when they saw their friend laying down on the snow, not moving.

“Sora!” the two immediately run over, possibly faster than Olaf has ever seen the two run. They kneel down next to him, Kairi about to grab his arm when she flinches back. “Ah!”

“What is it?” Riku asked as he was about to grab Sora’s other arm when he, too, flinched back when his gloved hand lightly brushed against Sora’s arm and found it cold. Really cold. Possibly as cold as if you were to touch an icicle with your bare hands.

It was concerning. Because Riku was wearing gloves and Sora was wearing a long-sleeved jacket.

Despite this, Riku and Kairi once again tried to lift Sora from the ground. Ignoring the stinging pain they felt from Sora’s cold limbs, they were able to get the boy into a sitting position. Now, seeing his face, Sora hadn’t fallen asleep - much to their relief - and there were plenty of flakes covering his shockingly pale skin. Normally, this would’ve made Riku laughed if he didn’t how dazed Sora looked.

The boy looked like he could barely keep his eyes open. Every few seconds his eyes would flicker shut before he would shake his head lightly and snap them open before repeating the process over.

Not only that but he was shivering. Riku could practically feel his body trembling underneath his fingers.

“Sora, are you okay?” Kairi asked as she wiped the snow off his face.

Sora didn’t reply. It almost looked like he didn’t hear her question until Riku shook his shoulders.

“Y-Yeah,” his voice was trembling, not to mention faint as he regains his surroundings. “I’m fine. I have no idea what just happened. I was just walking and then…”

He trailed off. His hand slightly cradling the spot where his heart should be. Riku began to worry; was there something wrong with Sora’s heart?

“Can you stand?’ once again, it was Kairi who found the courage to ask the most important questions. Sora was once again silent the first few seconds. Riku was about to shake him again when Sora eventually guided his hands to the snowy ground and attempted to lift himself up.

He lost his balance and fell flat on his bottom.

“Okay, up you go,” Riku sighs as he and Kairi both grabbed on to his arms - both ignoring how cold he was through the jacket - and lifted him to his feet. They were about to let him go but they quickly readjusted their grips when it was clear Sora couldn’t lift his own weight.

Riku sighs through his nose. “Let’s keep walking, the castle should be over the horizon, anyway,” this earned him a slight nod from Sora, who still looks so out of it. Carefully, the two helped their friend walk through, making sure they keep him upright whenever his legs gave out. Olaf had eventually jumped off Sora’s shoulder to relieve the boy from any more burdens on his body.

The four walked in silence; Sora was slowly starting to regain his strength so Riku and Kairi let go of his arms, though they still remained by his side, while Olaf walked a few ways ahead of them. So far, Sora didn’t look like he was about to fall again so that brought peace to their worries-

“FROZEN HEART!”

The three practically jumped out of their skins when Olaf suddenly screamed as his life depended on it. Sora nearly fell down if it weren’t for Riku catching him in the last second.

“Thanks for the heart attack, Olaf!” Sora shouted once he straightens up, thankfully sounding like his normal self.

The snowman, who stopped dead in his tracks after screaming, whips around to face them with wide eyes. “No! Not ‘attack heart’,  _ frozen heart _ ! That’s what Anna’s been trying to tell me this whole time?”

“Wait, what?” Kairi asked. “Since when did she say that?”

“When we escaped the castle. She was yelling something at me but I couldn’t figure out what it was until now! She was trying to warn me about a frozen heart!” he suddenly jumps in excitement. “I finally figure it out!”

Riku, however, didn’t seem to share his excitement. “Wait, if she was trying to warn you about that then doesn’t that mean-?”

Kairi quickly picks up on what Riku was nervous about. “Someone’s already…” she trails off, not wanting to say the words out loud in fear of them being true.

Sora looked back and forth between his friends, confused at first before the realization slowly dawned on him. Once it did, Sora looked paler, if it was even possible. “H-He killed someone, didn’t he? H-Hans killed one of our friends?”

Olaf looks over and the smile he had instantly fallen away when he sees how distraught the three looked. “W-Well, they’re probably not dead yet if Hans really did hit them in the heart…”

This caught their attention. “What do you mean?” Kairi asked.

The snowman felt instant relief when those looks of despair disappeared. “See, the thing is about a frozen heart is that you don’t die right away. It’s like this really slow and complicated process that has these weird symptoms right before you freeze to death. Oh, gee, thinking about it now, no wonder Anna was messed up afterward.”

“Slow…” Sora mumbled to himself as his eyes stared off into the distance like he was thinking over something.

“Do you think you can tell us about the symptoms Olaf?” Riku asked. If Hans really did strike one of their friends while they were away then maybe they have enough time to save them. Or at least do something before they freeze.

“Right! Symptoms,” Olaf began to count off from his fingers. “Let’s see; the person’s hair starts to turn white a while after they get hit. Not like, it turns completely white right away. No, no, no, that would just cause more problems! It’s just a single strand of hair that turns white. But if that person gets colder then you should expect a full head of white hair pretty soon; that’s probably when you should be worrying. What else…? Oh! Their skin turns pretty pale after a while, like snow-white pale. You should really start to worry about it when you see frost on their skin, though. Did I also mentioned the person gets really cold?”

Riku tried to wrap his head around the information Olaf had just give them. It was a relief to know that there was a chance to save a friend but it was…unsettling, for the lack of a better term, to hear those symptoms. While he wouldn’t admit to his friends, his traumatic experience with frostbite was the reason he hates the cold so much. He can’t imagine what it would be like to slowly lose all the warmth in your body before you freeze altogether. That sounded like a horrible way to die.

“That sounds terrible,” Kairi said softly, almost like she just read his mind. Riku nodded his head in agreement.

“Yeah, but at least we know to expect when we-” Riku stops himself when he notices Sora. The boy, in the midst of Olaf’s explanation, had backed up a few steps away, a hand clutching his chest. For a moment, Riku thought he was having another episode until he saw the look of utter fear in his blues eyes.

Why was Sora afraid?

“Hey, Sora?” Riku began, unintentionally catching Kairi and Olaf’s attention. “Are you okay?”

Sora began to shake his head, almost like he was in denial with something in his head. “I-I thought it was slow… I-I didn’t think… I-I…” His breathing began to pick up, almost to the point of hyperventilating. Riku immediately grabs his shoulders to ground him.

“Sora, breathe,” he tells the younger boy gently, not wanting him to blow into a panic attack. “Just take a deep and tell us what’s bothering you.”

Sora did manage to calm his breathing down, thankfully, but he still kept shaking his head. Riku scans his friend’s pale face, trying to figure the source of his discomfort-

Wait… Sora’s skin was pale when it should’ve been its normal sun-kissed tone. Originally, Riku thought it was because he was exposed to the cold climate for too long but Olaf’s words began to echo in his head.

The answer hit him like a Keyblade. Riku slowly removes his hands from Sora’s shoulders as his heart drops into his stomach from the number of dread that was filling it. No, he didn’t want to believe it but his brain logically told him that all the symptoms were right there; the constant shivering, the pale skin, his energy slowly deteriorating every now and then, not to mention how he was  _ so _ cold.

But Riku still didn’t want to believe it.

He could faintly hear Kairi’s breath hitching behind him. She, too, had figured it out.

“Take off your hat, Sora,” she begs, no, demands their friend. “Sora, take your hat off. Right. Now.”

Sora hesitated for a moment but once he saw the looks on his faces he complied. “Just so you guys know, I really thought this happened fast,” he says before he took his hat off.

Silence rang through the air.

Riku looks at Sora’s hair; what was once head full of chestnut spikes sticking out everywhere was now tainted by these handfuls of white locks. Thankfully, for the majority on the right side of his head, Sora’s regular hair color still remains. However, there was still plenty of white hair that covered the left side of his head. There were a handful of brown strands within the white hair but Riku could see they were slowly getting smaller.

“...How bad does it look?” Sora asks, his voice small and hesitant due to the fact he could see the looks of horror on the three’s faces. “You guys are gonna have to tell me because I still can’t see what my hair looks like.”

“W-W…” Kairi’s voice stampers for a bit before exploding. “W-Why didn’t tell us you were hit earlier?!”

“H-Hey, I honestly thought I was fine!” Sora protested. “I thought it was like a normal ice spell where it freezes you once you get hit. I didn’t know it would take forever!”

“You should’ve at least told us you were hit!” Riku exploded, just as angry as Kairi. “For Pete’s sake, Sora, half of your hair is already white!”

Olaf’s head suddenly pops up between them. “Well, I wouldn’t say  _ half _ of his hair is white, I would say a good small portion of it is. Wow, Anna was right, you do have a lot of hair,” at the looks he was receiving from the three teenagers, he quickly backtracks. “But of course, you guys know each other since childhood so you know his hair better then I do. I’ll just wait down here,” Olaf’s head goes back down to his body.

Shaking his head, Riku takes a deep breath to calm himself down. Getting angry won’t make Sora better, he knew that.

“Okay, Olaf,” the snowman looks up when he hears his name. “You know more about this frozen heart thing better than we do. Can you tell us what do we need to do to cure him?”

Olaf hums as he rubs his chin. “Well, the only known cure for a frozen heart is an act of true love,” he turns to look at Sora. “Say, Sora? How do you feel about taking a sword for your friends?”

“WHAT?!” came the outraged cries of Riku and Kairi.

Olaf jumps back at that. “Whoa, easy, guys!”

“What kind of a cure is that?!” Kairi shrieked.

“You are not doing that!” Riku points a finger to Sora, who jumps back in response.

“I didn’t even say anything!” the spiky-hair boy protested.

“No, but we know you well enough that you would do it!”

“Wait, Sora gets hurt by a sword all the time?” Olaf asked as he looked back and forth between the friends in confusion.

“Nevermind that,” Riku shakes his head. “Olaf, please tell us there’s another way to cure to Sora  _ without _ him risking his life?”

“Hey, don’t I get a say in this?” Sora spoke up with a frown.

“NO!” the boy jumps back at his friends’ immediate response.

“Okay, okay, don’t pop a blood vessel, you two,” Olaf says with his hands out in an effort to calm the two down. “Look, so far, an act of true love is the only thing I know that can thaw a frozen heart. I don’t know any other methods other than-”

The snowman cuts himself short as his eyes grew wide with realization. Seconds later, a smile broke onto his face. “Oh, oh, oh! I know who can help Sora! Elsa can!”

“Elsa?” Riku questioned. How could Elsa help?

“Do you guys remember what that mouse said?” Olaf asked and the three knew he was talking about Mickey. “He said that he knew someone with ice powers that can cure someone with a frozen heart. Elsa has ice powers, too! Maybe she can help Sora?”

“Do you think that’ll actually work?” Kairi couldn’t help but voice her concerns. The thought of Sora dying filled her with an out-of-control fear that wanted her to do anything to help. However, it didn’t mean she was willing to risk Sora’s life in the process of this salvation.

“Honestly, it’s better than letting this idiot getting himself impaled by a sword,” Riku gestures his head towards the now pouting Sora.

“Hey!”

“Well, what are we waiting for? Off to the castle we go!” Olaf cheers before he happily skips forward. The three shook their heads at their new friend’s antics but they still followed him with smiles on their faces.

Their short walk was ruined, however, by the sound of hooves coming their way.

“What’s that?” Kairi asks warily, Riku and her slowly moving to grab their swords just in case.

Their worries disappeared when they see a familiar reindeer turn a corner before running up to them.

“Sven!” Olaf shouts excitedly as he meets the reindeer halfway, wrapping his arms around Sven’s face before squeezing it against his own. “Oh, you’re alright! I thought you were captured when the guards ambushed us.”

There were a few grunts from Sven, something that Olaf obviously understood while the three of them were left trying to make sense of what was going on. After a few seconds of Olaf nodding to whatever Sven was grunting, the snowman finally translated.

“You heard the guards coming so you decided to run away?” he was responded with a nod, which prompted Olaf to hug the reindeer once again. “Oh, you’re such a good boy! Running away from the bad people! Who’s a good boy? You are! Yes, you are-”

“Uh, Olaf?” Riku spoke up, catching the two’s attention. “Hate to break this reunion but need I remind you about something very important that we need to do?” He gestures towards Sora.

Sven finally took notice of the spiky-haired boy’s condition and, on any other day, Riku would’ve laughed at how comically the reindeer’s jaw dropped if it weren’t for the fact his best friend’s life was at stake.

“Oh, right!” suddenly, the snowman began to climb up the reindeer’s fur until he was seated on Sven’s back. “Well, what are you guys waiting for? All aboard the Reindeer Ride!”

Deciding it was best not to express their concerns about riding a reindeer like a horse at the moment, the three complied. Sora was the first one up after Riku saw how he was struggling to pull himself up before the older boy helped. He then helped Kairi up behind Sora before pulling himself up until he was seated in front of Sora while being behind Olaf.

Riku won’t ever admit to Sora and Kairi but he did unconsciously grip Sven’s antlers when he felt the reindeer shift a bit.

“Is everyone ready?” Olaf asked from his spot in the front. There were a few nods from the three which prompted him to say, “Alright, Sven, charge!”

It was safe to say the trio of friends were not prepared for Sven to rear back and stand on his hind legs like he was a horse. Riku yelped and tightened his grip on Sven’s antlers when he felt Sora suddenly wrap his arms around his neck, slightly cutting off his airway for a moment. He could only assume Kairi was also holding onto Sora, which would explain Sora’s desperate attempts to cling to him.

Before they knew it, Sven returned to standing on four legs before taking off into the direction of the castle.

As the wind rushed past him, Riku took a quick glance over his shoulder to check on Sora.

A strand of brown hair had just turned white right before his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's kind of cruel to put this story on hold with that ending, huh? Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and I will see you next time!


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